Team 7 - Always
by HeIsMySalvation
Summary: I stare at Naruto, my eyes wide in shock and horror. "Our friendship means more than any dream," he says. "I'm not your friend!" I yell. He grins, his voice gurgling as blood pours out of his mouth. "You'll always be my friend. Always."
1. l Sasuke

蛇**| Sasuke**

I _am_ the darkness as I lie in the underbrush, waiting, watching. The humidity clings to me like a second cloak, the fabric of my real cloak sticking to my skin with the dampness of my sweat. Bugs swarm up from the dirt to crawl into my clothes as others flit around my face. I can feel their tiny legs skittering over my body, occasionally stopping to bite into my skin, but I grit my teeth and bare it, remaining perfectly still as my eyes stay fixed on my target…Konoha.

Despite the damage it's been through, the village looks very much the same from the outside. Pein's attack obviously didn't destroy the walls. Pale stone illuminated by the pearl grey light of the dawn, they appear exactly as I remember them - exactly as I've pictured them all these years. Not yet awake, the village is quiet, aside from the occasional shifting of shinobi guards. The villagers are still sleeping calmly, unaware of my presence so close to their safe and isolated little world.

The surrounding woods is the only place alive with sound as the forest creatures rise with the sun, but the low hum of their noise provides a peaceful sense of normality, a sense that I hate. There's nothing normal about this day. The whole world should know that today will mark the fall of Konoha and all the treachery it stands for.

I smirk. They'll know soon enough.

Glancing up at the sky, I decide that it's time. I want to be able to sneak into the city before the guard is switched. The ones on duty now are tired and bored, thinking only of the beds and food that await them once they're relieved of duty. By the end of the day, they'll fall to their knees in horror of their apathy…if they're still alive that is.

蛇

I'm waiting again. I could've attacked at dawn when Konoha was still asleep, but no…I'm waiting. When I bring all of hell crashing down on this village, people won't be stumbling out of their homes confused and half awake. No, I want them alert and completely aware of the pain and terror of their lives being destroyed.

So I wait, still heavily cloaked and hidden in an alleyway, inside the village now. Gathering under my dark mantle as the temperature rises, the heat serves to fuel my hatred and increases my anticipation for the coming battle.

It's mid-morning now. People are going about their regular business, talking, chatting, and laughing as they pass my hiding spot, totally unaware that their destiny awaits them in this dark alleyway. The laughter and stupidity grates on my nerves. They go on about their lives totally unaware of the pain and suffering that was the price for such prosperity.

Soon, they won't laugh. Soon, they'll understand the torture they have caused my dear brother. They'll watch the life drain from their home and their loved ones, just as Itachi did. They'll cry for mercy, begging and pleading as all they've ever know is stripped from them, just as my family did. Their children will stumble through life, tormented with the thought that they could've stopped it had they been stronger, just as I did.

And I'll be here, watching it all. _I'll _be the one destroying _their_ lives. _ I'll_ be the one laughing.

Looking up at the sun, I can tell it's almost noon. They'll all be going to lunch now. They're all settled. Comfortable. Content. But I'm going to change that.

With a broad smirk, I reach into my neatly arranged ninja pouch to pull out a string of kunai, attached by exploding seals. This is for you, Nii-san.

* * *

_A/N Well, I said that I probably wouldn't do another fanfic, but I changed my mind. This is a story that I wrote and modified to fit Naruto. If I ever post the real story, I'll try to put up a link so you guys can see it. Sorry, I know this is short and kind of a rough cut. Let me know if you guys like it! If you don't, I won't keep writing it. Please review! Thanks and God bless :)_


	2. II Naruto

蛙 | **Naruto**

An explosion suddenly rocks my seat, dumping me onto the ground. Lurching to my feet, I sway dizzily as I peek out of one of the flaps that cover the entrance of the _Ichiraku_ ramen stand. Everyone in the street has stopped to stare at the smoke billowing up from the other end of the village. The air is filled with gasps and murmured questions as people glance around them fearfully.

"I'll pay you later, o-jisan!" I yell over my shoulder as I out of the stand and up the street towards the smoke.

Feeling something wet slap against my hand, I glance down to find myself still clutching my chopsticks, noodles dangling from the end of them. I toss the food in my mouth and fling the wooden utensils aside before jumping up onto the roof of a nearby building. Pausing for a moment, I shield my eyes with my hand, squinting in an attempt to see what's going on, but I can't see anything besides the cloud of smoke. I drop my hand and start running again, diving between rooftops and over alleyways.

Who could be attacking us now? Konoha has had very few enemies since the Fourth Shinobi World War. The Akatsuki's gone, Obito and Kabuto both dead, peace established between the Hidden Villages. Who's left?

**You know who's left.**A small tremor passing through my mind as the powerful voice fills my head. My gut wrenches painfully. Kyubi's right. I do know who's left.

But it couldn't be him. There are still dozens of S-Class criminals with grudges against Konoha. It could be any one of them attacking, but somehow I know it's not. It's not one of those faces from the bingo book that I glare at with utter contempt, promising to someday bring them to justice. No. It's the face that I always pass, bile building in my throat, avoiding the accusing black eyes that stare back at me from the hauntingly old photograph.

He's not supposed to be here. Our battle has always been fated to happen, but not here. I've prepared in case he attacked the village, but I've never seriously considered it. It's supposed to be just him and me, fulfilling our destiny once again in the shadow of the Valley of the End, or in an abandoned field. I don't care which as long as we're alone where no one else can get hurt.

I narrow my eyes as another explosion makes the buildings beneath my feet tremble. It won't happen here. I won't let it. He can destroy me, I promised him he could, but he can't destroy Konoha.

The sound of screams fuels my energy as I approach the chaos. I vaguely notice people below me fleeing in the opposite direction as I fly past them above the streets. The screaming gets louder, mixing with cries of pain as I draw closer and closer. The smoke starts to burn my lungs and I'm forced to skirt buildings that are already overtaken by flames. Some have even collapsed under the heat of an eerily unquenchable black fire.

Scaling one final slanted roof, I halt at its peak, surveying the damage below me. Nearly half of the street has crumbled, leaving nothing but smoking rubble and littered bodies. A few groan in agony, but most are clearly already gone. Blood is spattered in the dirt or across splintered wood and broken stones. Besides the injured and the dead, the street is mostly empty now except for one lone figure, veiled by the smoke and surrounded by a ring of shinobi.

"Sasuke!" I yell.

The smoke clears enough for me to see him look up as a wild smirk spreads across his face. "Naruto. Have you come to watch the show?"

Seeing his stance shift, I jump down onto the street, and start sprinting towards the group. "Everyone! Run!"

All of them obey without the slightest hesitation, except for one young shinobi who shakily stands his ground. Watching in horror as Sasuke turns towards the trembling boy, I quickly form a sign with my hands. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Two shadow clones appear sprinting on either side of me. As Sasuke starts to walk towards the shinobi, sword raised, I snatch the wrist of one of my clones, spinning him around to fling him towards the boy. I stick my hand out to the other clone and continue to run as he spins the chakra in my hand, creating a whirling ball of power.

My shadow clone flies towards the boy, hitting him out of the way just as Sasuke brings down his sword. "Run!" my clone orders the boy before disappearing in a puff of smoke as the blade slices through him neatly. This time the boy obeys, scrambling to his feet and taking off through the rubble of the ruined street.

"Rasengan!" I shout, slamming the sphere of chakra down towards Sasuke's head. He jumps back and then disappears behind the cloud of dust when my rasengan slams into the ground. As the air clears, I see Sasuke crouched in a defensive stance, red eyes narrowed in a fierce glare.

I match his look with mine. "Leave them out of it, Sasuke. They're innocent."

"Innocent?" he spits out the word. "No one in this village is innocent."

"We're not going to fight here," I tell him, reaching behind me to slip a kunai out of my shinobi pouch, spinning it once around my finger before catching it in a full handed grip. The hard, metal handle feels solid and familiar in my palm. It grounds me in a way, helping my mind to focus.

Again, Sasuke's face stretches in a demented grin. "You can't stop me. Once you're dead, I'll slaughter this village."

Closing my eyes, I sigh sadly. "I said you could kill me, Sasuke, and I meant it, but _only_ me." I open my eyes again, fixing him with the sternest look I can muster. "You can't harm the villagers. This is between you and me. It's got nothing to do with them."

"It's got everything to do with them!" he screams. "They killed the my clan! They killed Itachi!"

Looking at my friend close up, I can't help but pity him. I've always felt sorry for him, knowing how much pain his past and his choices must have cost him, but right now he just looks so…pitiful. Despite his powerful and menacing aura, it's almost hard to convince myself that this glaring man with unkempt hair and spittle flying out of his mouth is the stoic Sasuke I once knew.

It _is_ him. It'll always be him. No matter how deeply buried, he'll always be in there somewhere.

Standing up straight, Sasuke cracks his knuckles, an excited gleam in his eye. "And now it's time for them to embrace all of the suffering they caused. They should feel the same pain and terror that my family did. The blood will run in their streets as it did in mine! Nothing can stop my hatred now! It's too powerful!"

"Hatred isn't power," I tell him calmly. "In the end, it'll be your downfall."

He chuckles darkly, "Then come and fight me and my hatred. _Make_ it my downfall."

"I told you," I grip my kunai tighter, shifting my position slightly before springing towards him, "We're not fighting here 'dattebayo!"

Before he can activate his Mangekyou, Sasuke is forced to parry the swing of my kunai and then block a kick towards his side as I press on in my attack. Just one touch, that's all I need. I continue my assault, using every ounce of my strength, speed, and ferocity in pure taijutsu, barely giving him time to counter, never allowing him to back off or resort to ninjutsu. I don't plan to win this way. I know I can't keep it up for long. Eventually this wild barrage of kicks punches and stabs is going to get me killed when I make the wrong move too quickly, but I don't need it to last. I just need one little opening…there!

Sasuke jumps in the air to avoid another slash of my kunai, bracing his hand on my shoulder to back flip over me. Grabbing his wrist, I hold on tight as he tries to wrench it from my grasp while still in the air. "Hiraishin no Jutsu!" I yell and the world begins to zoom past us.

Colors flash and suddenly we're both falling into a massive white spray. Prepared for the change in location, I straighten my body and perform a neat dive into the water below. As the water closes over my head, I enjoy the refreshing coolness, a welcome escape from the heat of the day, but I'm not here to escape anything. I'm here to face it.

With a few swift kicks, I surge up to the surface, sending a warm flow of chakra to my hands and feet as I climb up on top of the water. I scan the surface, pinpointing the large ripples and rush of air bubbles where Sasuke must have fallen in. Probably a bit shocked at suddenly having the ground drop out beneath him, it's taking him a bit longer to reach the surface.

As I wait for him, I glance around me, taking in the enormous, and rather intimidating, mounds of carved rock, bordering the river as it roars down into the valley. The surrounding woods are deep and freshly green, rich with the sounds of forest life. An endless blue sky stretches above me, hemmed only by a thick wad of dark clouds in the distance. I close my eyes, allowing myself a soft smile as I shake the water out of my hair, flinging the droplets back where they came from as wet locks slap against my forehead protector. This valley's isolation makes it peaceful, the natural majestic surroundings make it beautiful, and the many hours I've spent here make it familiar. I don't mind dying here. This is a good place for it.

**Don't give up yet, kid.** The Kyubi's voice fills my mind. **You've still got a whole battle ahead of you.**

"I'm not giving up," I tell him. "I'm staying true to my word."

I open my eyes to watch my friend sputter as he breaks the surface, flailing a bit before he's able to brace himself on top of the water. Standing shakily, his eyes shift from his regular sharingan to the deadly pattern of his Mangekyou.

"Why are we here?" he growls.

"It's a transportation jutsu," I explain, a bit proudly in spite of myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I can just barely see the tip of the rock high above our heads where the jutsu formula is placed, almost covered by the flow of the waterfall. I put it there a while ago, hoping I would never have to use it. It took my almost a year to master the Fourth's jutsu. It requires precise chakra control, which is definitely not one of my strengths, but I never give up 'dattebayo! It's part of my father's legacy and I planned to carry it on. When I die here today, it will be as his son. "I told you that our fight wouldn't be in Konoha," I say. "I won't let you kill the villagers 'dattebayo!"

Sasuke laughs even as blood pools in his eye to spill down his face. A giant purple skeleton slowly materializes around him before the creature is then layer with muscle and armor. Tapping down into the deep, dark part of my chakra, I open the gate, allowing Kyubi to flood my chakra with his own. It's a comfort to feel his fiery presence fill me as his chakra burns through my system. **This is it, kid.** I nod. Yes it is.

"You said I could destroy you," Sasuke chuckles from behind the purple hue of his Susano'o. "Who will stop me when you're gone?"

I give him a broad smile. "That's the thing, Sasuke. You're coming with me."

蛙

Sweat drips into my eyes and down the sides of my face, stinging as it runs over the bloody gash on my cheek. The humid air burns its way rapidly in and out of my lungs as my body begs for oxygen. Swiping at my eyes with my tattered sleeve, I clench my trembling and aching limbs, forcing them to support me as I slowly and painfully brace my hands on top of the water to help me stand.

I watch the figure on the opposite side of the lake do the same. He looks bad – gasping for air, bathed in sweat, clothes torn, blood oozing out of various small wounds – but I'm sure I look just as bad. Stripped of my cover of nine tails chakra, I feel empty and exhausted. As the flow of adrenaline ebbs, I can feel every bruise and cut covering my battered body. The only life I sense left in me is a small flame at the center of my chakra reserves.

Despite the remnants of blood still dripping from his eyes, he's no longer shrouded in the dark chakra of his Susano'o, having lost it about the time I ran out of Kyubi's chakra. As the battle has dragged on, Sasuke has become more and more like himself. The look on his face is almost blank as he faces me once again, reminding me of the friend I used to know. Thinking about this, I allow myself a small smile. Sasuke has to die, but I'm glad it will be as himself and not the hate-filled monster he has become. I'm glad he will die as my friend.

I can feel more blood pour down my arm from the large hole in my shoulder, courtesy of Sasuke's chidori blade, as I'm forced to move it in order to form a hand sign. Sasuke's eyes narrow and his hands fly through his own signs as a clone appears beside me. Reaching deep inside me, I draw my remaining chakra through my body to pool in my hand.

**Goodbye, kid. **Kyubi's voice is weak, fading from my mind as his chakra drains into my technique. I silently thank him as my vision blurs and the chakra begins to spin in my palm. The squeaky crackling of chidori assaults my ears from the bright, writhing light that fills Sasuke's hand. I squint at him, trying to force my sight to cooperate as the edges of it turn black.

The clone beside me disappears with a small pop in a cloud of smoke as images from his memory slide into my head, not that they're very different from my own. Grasping the warm ball of chakra in my hand, aches and pains forgotten, I start to run head on towards my friend. He's already doing the same, black eyes flashing behind the bright wisps of screeching chakra.

"Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

Those dark eyes are the last thing I see before they're overtaken by a white glare. Then my whole world fades to darkness.

* * *

_A/N Hope you guys like the story so far! I guess this seems like the end but trust me, there's still more to tell. Sorry, most of my updates probably won't be this quick and it's kind of a sloppy chapter. I'm not good at writing battles, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Again, please please please review! If you guys don't like the story, I won't keep writing it. Thanks and God bless!_


	3. III Sakura

**カ****ツ | Sak****ura**

"Is this all you have to report?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

The blonde woman sighs, slouching in her chair with a bored expression, red fingernails tapping irritably on the desk. Glancing towards her assistant, the Hokage raises a questioning eyebrow at Shizune, who shakes her head emphatically. I struggle to keep my face from breaking out into a grin as Tsunade-sama plops her cheek dejectedly down on top of her hand. My shisou obviously needs a drink.

"Very good, Sakura," she mumbles, nails still clicking on the desktop. "You can go."

I bend into a bow but am forced to step out of it to catch myself when an explosion rocks the building.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune cries, clutching Tonton to her chest as the Hokage whirls to face the window.

A cloud of black smoke, colored with sparks and falling debris, hovers over the other side of the village. I stare at it, my mouth agape. Konoha should be used to such assaults by now, but after all the peace that's been established…

"W-what happened?" Shizune stutters, voicing my thoughts. "Maybe it was just –" she's silenced as another explosion jerks the floor beneath us once again. I stumble towards the desk, grabbing it to help regain my balance.

"Shizune!" Tsunade-sama bellows, despite the fact that her assistant stands barely ten feet away. "Alert the jōnin patrols to lock down our borders! Call every available, off-duty shinobi to arms! Get chūnin out to the area to evacuate civilians! And…" her eyes flicker towards me for a moment. "Have someone find Shikamaru. Tell him not to let Naruto out of his sight."

At those words, realization dawns on me. "You think it's…him?"

My shisou is already facing the window once again. "I don't know, Sakura. I just don't."

Him…Sasuke. My breath catches in my throat. I knew he was still out there of course. I knew that he still wanted to destroy Konoha, but over the last few months, I've found myself thinking about him less and less. We haven't had any intel on him for almost a year. Maybe I thought – maybe I hoped – that he had simply forgotten his revenge and moved on to a new life or something like that.

"Sakura!" Tsunade-sama's voice startles me out of my reverie. "Get a medical squad together. Collect the wounded and transport them to the hospital. Do _not_ engage unless attacked! Understood?"

Pushing my personal thoughts to the back of my mind with practiced ease, I force it to draw blank on everything but my shisou's orders. "Hai!"

**カ****ツ**

"It's awfully quiet," I barely catch the hushed voice behind me over the wind whistling in my ears. "What d' you suppose happened?"

My boots tap comfortably on firm wood as we cross the village on the rooftops. The civilians below are a mere blur in my peripheral vision as I use it to scan our route while focusing most of my attention on the smoking target ahead. I'm vaguely aware of the wind winding its cool fingers through my short hair as my pants slap lazily against my leg, but I try to push everything out of my mind, everything except the mission we've been sent to accomplish.

"I don't know," another low tone catches my fine-tuned hearing. "Maybe they left."

Ignoring the comments of the medic team following me, I narrow my eyes to perform my own analysis. They're right. It's too quiet for there to be a large battle going on. The city is a little louder than usual, but that's to be expected, considering the chaos. Could it have possibly been an accident? Some kids playing with some explosive tags?

My hopeful thought is crushed a second later, when I catch sight of one of the smoking buildings just ahead. It's already going down under the weight of flames but not just any flames…black flames.

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat and jump down into the street. "Nobody get near it!" I shout to the chaotic mixture of shinobi and civilians scrambling around in front of the house. Hearing the thumps that mark my medic team landing in the dust behind me, I glance back at them briefly. "Go on ahead! Start moving the wounded out. I'll be there soon!" After a short chorus of "Hai!", I feel their shadows pass over me as they continue on to follow my instructions.

Turning back to the people in front of the burning building, I see that a few of them have ignored my command. "Baka!" I scream at them, "Get away from the fire! You can't put it out!" This time, more of them turn to look at me and everyone takes a few steps back from the burning building. "You!" I snap, pointing a gloved finger towards a small group of chūnin. "Start creating a gap between the buildings! I don't care if you have to take the whole thing down. Just don't let the fire spread!"

They all hesitate for a moment, looking at each other in confusion. I fix them with my most menacing glare. I can only tolerate so many slow idiots and these four didn't make the list. "Just go!"

Finally they jump into action, albeit a little slower than I would like. They don't have much choice. Besides the fact that I'm the Hokage's apprentice, I outrank them. When I'm satisfied that they've started tearing the nearby buildings apart, I move on, repeating my instructions to anyone else who needs them.

They haven't seen Amaterasu before. I have.

**カ****ツ**

"What happened?" I yell as I drop down in the dirt beside Shikamaru. The length of this street is almost pure rubble. A haze of smoke and debris dirties the air, making the heat even more suffocating.

The lazy-eyed jōnin turns to me, his mouth set in a grim line. "We're not exactly sure."

"But what was it? Do you know what caused the explosions?" I look back over my shoulder to make sure my medic team is following their orders. Most of the wounded are either receiving emergency first aid or are lined up on stretchers to be taken to the hospital. My team is working very efficiently and I can't help but feel a small sense of pride in them.

"We know who it was."

I turn my attention back to Shikamaru, only to see him shift uncomfortably under my gaze. "Well?" I demand, placing my hands on my hips impatiently.

He meets my eyes squarely. "It was Uchiha Sasuke."

My heart drops into my stomach. I stare at the ground sightlessly for a moment. Uchiha Sasuke. I don't even know what to feel at the sound of that name anymore. Love? Hatred? Dread? Yes, definitely dread. Dread because it's that name which is trying to bring down the thing I love most. Uchiha Sasuke is trying to destroy Konoha. It's always been an idea. Now it's a reality.

I shake my head, effectively clearing it of my useless pondering. There much more serious matters than my feelings at hand.

"Where is he?"

Shikamaru shrugs, hands shoved in pockets. "Don't know."

"Where's Naruto?" I ask, worry building in my chest at the thought of my foolish blonde friend.

He shrugs again. "Don't know that either. Apparently Sasuke just attacked out of nowhere, set off a few bombs, killed some people, burned down some buildings, and then just moved on down the street."

I shudder unintentionally at the thought of Sasuke cutting down civilians. "And then he just disappeared?"

"Guess so."

"Sir!" Both our heads snap towards the call of a shinobi climbing out of the rubble, a boy's arm slung over his shoulder. The kid is covered from head to toe in soot, his clothes in smoldering tatters, his body limp as he's nearly dragged through the rubble.

Stepping past Shikamaru, I rush to the shinobi's side, almost snatching the boy from his arms before launching up onto a nearby rooftop above the smoke.  
The second I set him down, the boy starts to hack, his body jerking from the impact. I quickly place my hands on his chest, drawing my chakra up through my palms and allowing it to sink down into his lungs. Thankfully there's no damage and nothing in there that he can't cough out. Withdrawing my chakra, I slide my hand under his back and help him to sit up, rubbing in circles as he coughs. My arms are covered with soot from his half burnt clothes, but nothing seems to be damaged underneath the ruined cloth. Studying him for a moment, I realize that he can't be older than twelve or thirteen, but the hard, grey vest beneath my palm and the clink of his arm guards as they hit against his belt with every hack mark him as a shinobi, a chūnin actually.

"I-it was," the boy gasps out before another coughing spasm hits him.

"Shh, don't talk," I tell him, dropping my voice to a low, soothing tone.

Shoes thump on the wood behind me. "The boy mentioned Naruto before he started hacking," Shikamaru voice drawls over my head as he leans around to look at the boy.

My eyes widen, but I force my voice to stay calm and hopefully comforting as I continue to rub the boy's back. "Did you see Naruto?"

He nods fervently. "Saved...saved me," he wheezes painfully.

"It's okay. Take your time," I force myself to tell him. Leather crackles in my fist as I clench my gloved hand.

He shakes his head. "Naruto…he…he saved me…from the man…w-with the sword. Then they…they disappeared…j-just...vanished."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru mutters.

After a few more gasps, the boy is immediately thrown back into a fit of coughing. Without thinking, I rip off the sleeve of his already ruined t-shirt and hold it underneath his mouth as he finally hacks up the black gunk clogging his lungs.

"He'll be okay," I tell Shikamaru as I wipe the boy's mouth with my make-shift rag. Looking behind me, I realize that the shinobi who brought the boy is standing beside Shikamaru on the roof.

"Take him to the hospital," I order, placing my arms underneath the kid's shoulders and knees to heft him up as I stand. The man nods as I load the young chūnin in his arms and immediately sprints off.

"So where do you think they went?" Shikamaru asks as I try to brush the soot off my clothing.

"I don't know." After a few more unsuccessful attempts at dusting myself off, I straighten and stare thoughtfully into the street below. Where would Naruto and Sasuke have run off to? Surely there'd be a path of destruction leading us right to them.

The row of white stretchers suddenly catches my eye, the moans and pain laced cries tugging on my heart and sense of duty. They're supposed to be my priority right now. "I need to help the other medics." Shikamaru nods and I crouch to spring off the roof, but freeze when the boy's words suddenly hit me. _Vanished?_ My eyes widen.

Standing straight again I whirl around to face Shikamaru, who's cocking an eyebrow at me curiously. "Did that boy just say Naruto and Sasuke _vanished?_"

He blows out an irritated breath. "You should've heard him better than me."

I turn to look in the direction that the shinobi took off with the boy, staring at the small figure leaping over rooftops in the distance.

No, they couldn't have. He wouldn't!

Suddenly gripped with panic, I sprint over to the edge of the roof and jump, easily covering the distance to the next one.

"Oi! Sakura!"

"Get a squad of jōnin and have them follow me!" I call over my shoulder. "I'll need another medic too!"

"But where are you going!"

"The Valley of the End!"

**カ****ツ**

The forest passes by me in a blur, dappled patterns of leaves and sun traveling over my body as I fly through the branches. Wet leaves slap at my skin, splashing me with small droplets of water and mud. Every labored breath I take in carries the scent of fresh growth and recent rain. With each hollow thump of my foot on a new limb, a short, burning tremor travels down my leg as I push off onto the next one.

_I'm the only one who can bear the full brunt of your hate. It's my job, no one else's! I'll bear the burden of your hatred…and we'll die together!_

A shiver runs down my spine. I close my eyes for just a moment in a vain attempt to erase Naruto's words from my mind. They're haunting me. They have been ever since that day I sat trembling under the bridge as my two teammates faced off – immeasurable hatred against ever resilient selflessness.

But today those words aren't just haunting me, they've sent me into a blind panic._We'll _

_die together…die together …die together…die together._

_No!_ My eyes snap open, narrowing determinedly on the path of branches before me. Sasuke needs to die. I've accepted that. It's been long and hard, but I finally have. But he will not, _cannot_ take Naruto with him. Even if I have to fight him and die myself, it won't happen.

"Sakura-san!" Casting a glance over my shoulder, I feel a little relieved at the sight of a forest green spandex and bright orange leg warmers racing towards me.

"Lee-san!" I exclaim gratefully, as his foot thumps on the next tree limb in synch with mine.

"Sakura-san! Shikamaru said that you required assistance at the Valley of the End! He said that Sasuke and Naruto-kun must have headed this way."

I nod and look back again, worriedly. Surely Shikamaru didn't send only Lee. It'll take more than just the two of us to stop them.

"Don't worry, Sakura-san. Shikamaru himself is following me along with Shino and another medic."

"Good," I give him a small, hopefully reassuring smile before once again directing my attention ahead of us.

Lee-san studies me as we press on. I can feel it, even though my gaze is trained on the branches in front of me. "Don't worry, Sakura-san," he finally repeats, "Naruto-kun is strong. He has the power of youth and the will to never give up! He won't be defeated."

I nod, hiding my concern beneath another fake smile. He's right. Naruto is strong, stronger than Sasuke, I'm sure of it, but…_we'll die together._

Clenching my fist, I force myself to ignore the words as they continue to reel through my head over and over. "How far behind are the others?"

"Just a few minutes. I came on ahead at Shikamaru's orders."

"Thank you," I tell him, knowing that he asked for those orders.

He nods and we continue on in silence.

"Oi!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lee-san look behind us to find the source of the voice. I don't bother. It's Shikamaru and the rest of our "rescue team" …if there's anyone left to rescue.

As soon as I hear them on the branches directly behind me, I take off, picking up my speed to a barely sustainable pace. Shikamaru sighs, grumbling something that sounds like "troublesome" while Lee-san shouts about us finding our friend with the power of youth. I ignore them both. We're getting close.

**カ****ツ**

"Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

"No!" I scream, crashing through the forest towards the still-distant voices.

Shikamaru and Lee-san yell my name from behind, but I simply push faster. The heavy burning in my lungs along with the deep, trembling ache of my limbs seems very distant compared to the panic building in my chest, threatening to explode and take my sanity with it.

A stupidly broad grin under two squinting cerulean blue orbs all topped by a yellow shock of unruly hair assault my vision, confusing the already thick scene of foliage in front of me. I shove blindly through branches and leaves, not caring how much they tear at my skin or snag my clothes. All that's important is that I get there in time to save just one of them. Choosing between Naruto and Sasuke was very easy many years ago, then it became hard, then impossible, and now it's back to easy again. I know exactly which one I'll choose…if I get to choose one at all.

I can hear the waterfall's roar long before I see it. At the sight of open daylight on the other side, I fling myself through one final layer of branches to dive out on top of a large stretch of smooth, grey rock. Pushing myself to my feet, I spring over to the edge to see just the sight that I feared: a limp, orange figure crumpled on his side in a pool of blood.

"Naruto!" I scream, throwing myself off the edge of the monument. As I fall, I vaguely notice another figure in a similar position on the other side of the now empty lake, but my senses are honed in on the friend below me. This is the one I choose. This is the one I'll always choose.

Tucking my body into a loose ball, I feel the impact roll off my shoulders and down my spine as I hit the ground in a roll before springing up immediately. It's only a few more steps before I slide to a kneeling stop beside Naruto, spraying mud across him and myself, ripping off my gloves as I go. Flinging them to the side, I have to force myself to be gentle as I feel along his neck for a pulse.

No. No.

I try the other side.

Not there. No.

Grabbing his wrist, I place my first two fingers along the inside.

No. None.

I try the other one.

No. No.

I roll him over onto his back and place my hands on his chest, drawing a thread of my chakra through my body to pulse it through his. As clearly as if it were a drawn diagram, a vision of his body and chakra systems lays itself out in my mind.

Almost everything has shut down. His brain is still alive, but declining rapidly from lack of blood as his heart lies dormant. The small bit of chakra I can sense seeping from his core isn't his but the Kyuubi's. There's serious damage to his shoulder, arm, and torso, but none of that will matter if I can't get his heart going again.

"Sakura!" Four pairs of feet smack the ground behind me.

"Shikamaru! Come help me!"

A second later, he's kneeling in the mud beside me. "What about Sasuke?"

I look up to meet his eyes. They question me with a steely seriousness. Glancing down at Naruto – blood pouring out of his no longer smiling mouth, legs twisted at odd angles, shredded clothes doing little to hid the ugly wounds underneath – I feel my eyes sting, blurring with unshed tears. There's no one I loathe more than Sasuke right now. No one.

But Naruto would hate me if I told them to leave him and even a small something inside of me just won't let him die.

"Lee-san, go help the medic with Sasuke." I announce my decision in a clipped, detached tone. "Heal him as best you can but _do not_ revive him." Without another thought, my attention turns immediately back to Naruto.

Instructing Shikamaru to lift my teammate's legs, I place my palms, laced one over the other, on top of Naruto's chest and begin to pump. Urging his heart to life, I feel his ribs pop beneath my hands as I force them out of joint and down to squeeze his heart. At the same time, I pulse chakra from my own system into his, some of it healing, some of it simply to jump-start his system.

"Baka," I grumble angrily in time with my compressions, "Don't - - you - - dare - - leave - me. Don't - - you - - dare!" With one final shove, I pause and desperately feel his neck. For a moment, the air is sucked out of my lungs as my fingertips feel only stillness. I'm about to start compressions again, when a small pulse of the artery beneath my fingers makes me gasp and freeze. Afraid that if I make another move, I'll find out that it was just my imagination, I sit there, waiting.

There it is again.

Excitedly, I reach behind me to rip a kunai out of my back pouch and place it just inside Naruto's slack mouth. After a few terrifying seconds, a light smudge of condensation appears on the edge of the metal. He's breathing!

"He's breathing!" I shout, tossing the kunai aside before placing my hands on his chest to pour my healing chakra into his body, but there's not much more I can do.

I can't close up many of the wounds. The Kyuubi's chakra is almost depleted and as skilled as I am, no amount of simple healing chakra is going to bridge the damage done here. Even though I got his heart going, it'll go into overdrive and stop again if he doesn't quit losing blood and fast. With practiced ease, I knit as much as his tissue back together as possible. This will stem the loss a little bit, but we need to get him back to Konoha. Now.

"Lee-san!" I yell, startling Shikamaru who's still holding Naruto's legs.

Immediately turning from Sasuke and other medic, Lee-san rushes over as I carefully begin to lift Naruto's limp form into a seated position.

"I need you to rush him back to the hospital as smoothly and quickly as possible," I order. "He's losing a lot of blood, but tell Tsunade-sama…" I rattle off a series of medical terms that hopefully he can remember. His large eyebrows shift together in concentration as he memorizes my instructions.

"Hai!" He salutes officially before allowing Shikamaru and I to lift Naruto onto his back.

"Don't die on me," I whisper to my unconscious friend, affectionately brushing a muddy strand of droopy yellow hair out of one closed eye. I bite my lip worriedly. The ashy tone of his skin is only accentuated by the dark whisker marks on his cheeks. He looks dead already.

"Don't worry, Sakura-san! I will deliver Naruto-kun safely to Tsunade-sama."

I nod and step back, allowing Lee-san to take off, a familiar yellow head bouncing gently against his back.

I feel a strong hand squeeze my shoulder. "Naruto never gives up. He still has his dream to fulfill. He's never given into death before and he won't this time either."

Placing my hand over Shikamaru's, I squeeze back. "I hope you're right."

I turn at the sound of footsteps splashing in the mud behind us. "What do you want us to do with him?" Shino asks, carrying a limp Sasuke in his arms. Technically, he should be asking our captain, which is Shikamaru, but all eyes are trained on me, waiting for _my_ verdict.

I feel his appearance pull at my heart in spite of myself. He's just as beaten and broken as Naruto, face just as pale, clothes just as bloody. I find myself relieved to see an almost undetectable rise and fall of his chest. His body it just as toned and muscular as I remember, chiseled face accented by stark black hair which now hangs limp, heavy with mud, and splayed over his own forehead and Shino's arm. He looks almost peaceful, his face relaxed and not pinched in its usual glare, almost like the old Sasuke sometimes did. The thought sends a cold shiver down my spine. How could the old Sasuke have turned into something like this?

"How's his condition," I ask the medic who stands behind Shino.

"Unstable," she says softly, pushing a long lock of brown hair off her dripping forehead. "I've managed to stop most of the blood-loss, but he needs an operation. Several, in fact."

I nod curtly. "Well let's go then. Shino can you carry him?" The dark hood that covers Shino's face jerks up and down once.

For the first time since we arrived, I take a moment to survey the damage around me. The mere extent of it astonishes me. The waterfall now drops into what might as well be a mud pit. The lake's water has been blown out of the valley, powerfully enough to rip trees from their roots and for many of the rocks on the edges of the valley to crumble into it. The monuments are intact, cracked and weathered as always, but still standing. This valley will recover, even if those who fought here don't.

"Let's go," I order and launch myself up out of the valley.

We re-enter the forest, flying from branch to branch with a renewed sense of urgency, chasing Lee-san's distant form as it disappears into the thick foliage. Noticing the sunny yellow pattern of light that covers the forest fade to grey, I look up at the sky to find it shaded by a bundle of thick thunder clouds.

The sky is going to cry soon. I only hope I'm not crying with it.

**カ****ツ**

With a sigh of exhausted relief, I lean back, motioning for my intern to dab the sweat off of my face. "That should be it."

"Do you want me to close, Sakura-san?" One of my assisting doctors steps forward, hands already glowing green with chakra.

I nod gratefully, stepping back to allow him to take over. Painful shivers run down my stiff legs as I drag them over towards the door and out to the prep room. I lift off my mask to drag in a pleasant breath of cool air, wincing as the bottom strap rolls out of the indent it created in the skin of my neck. Stripping off my gloves, I scrub my hands thoroughly before fiddling with the tie at the back of my doctor's gown, leaving it half way undone.

Placing my hands on either side of the sink, I lean over it tiredly and allow my sweaty bangs to droop down into my face. My arms tremble beneath the pressure of my weight, but it's well worth the small relief to my aching feet.

Five hours in surgery. Just thinking about it makes me slump against the counter even more. I've done longer of course, but after running all the way to the Valley of the End, healing Naruto, then running back, I was already tired. I wanted to perform Naruto's surgery myself, but by the time we got here, Tsunade-sama had already started on him. Someone of equal expertise was required for Sasuke so I took that job myself.

Sasuke. In Konoha. I stare blankly down into the white sink, looking down towards the distorted reflection of myself which frames the center drain as little more than a dark blob. It doesn't quite seem real. The past hours of surgery have seemed so normal to me, just standard procedure, another long day spent slaving over the open body of a patient covered in tubes, monitors, and plastic sheets. Shouldn't I be thrilled or at least a little relieved that my old comrade is home safely? But all I feel is exhaustion, a touch of worry for the friend down the hall in another operating room, and something else that I can't quite explain.

Self-loathing floods my senses. Years of searching, fighting, hoping, then finally despairing and all I am is confused when everything is resolved. Confused because the one person who's always here for me is unconscious right now instead of in here telling me what to do and because…I still love the man lying in the next room, the man who tried to kill my best friend.

I grip the edge of the countertop, my knuckles turning white as small pieces of the tile crumble beneath my finger tips. I thought I had gotten over this. I accepted the fact that the boy I had loved was gone, dead, never coming back. I moved on, dating around casually, barely sparing Sasuke a second thought except in regards to the present threat or an old memory

I push myself roughly back off the counter, more than a little disgusted with myself. Surely I'm not turning into the obsessed, pitiful little fan girl again!

Glancing through the small window in the door that leads into the operating room, I study the group of medics, clustered at the center of the room. A gap in between two blue-clad figures shows me a still face resting on the operating table, pale as death, and nearly unrecognizable under the oxygen mask and mass of tubes. His black hair fans out gracelessly over the sheet beneath him, its darkness stark against the bright, sterile white of the cloth.

I turn away abruptly, untying my scrub the rest of the way before tossing the blood-stained material into the correct bin. Shoving open the swinging door with my shoulder, I stalk out of operating room and head down the hall to another one nearby.

Sasuke-kun, _our_ Sasuke, the boy on Team 7, is dead. The man who I just saved in there is someone else.

**カ****ツ**

Beep….beep….beep….beep

The heart monitor throbs out a steady, normal rhythm as I lean over my blonde friend, carefully watching the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

"He's still not stable," Tsunade-sama says. "There were some injuries we couldn't heal."

I nod before breaking out into a soft smile as his lid cracks to reveal a sliver of one piercing blue eye. "Sakura-chan?"

"Hi, Naruto."

Beep….beep...beep...beep

The monitor begins to speed up. I glance worriedly up at Tsunade-sama who quickly rushes over to the other side of the bed.

"W-what's wrong?" I stammer.

She shakes her head, placing a hand on his chest as his labored breathing intensifies. He grips the edge of the bed, hands turning white as veins bulge out of the tops. His back arches, jaw clenched in pain.

Beep…beep..beep..beep

The rhythm speeds up again. Panicked, I lift my hand, trying to fill it with chakra, but nothing comes.

Beep..beep beep beep beep

"Naruto!" I yell, grabbing his face in my hands as I watch those bright blue orbs glaze over.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan," he rasps, falling limply back onto the sheets. "I'm fulfilling my promise."

"No!" I scream at him.

Beep beep beep beep bee-

The monitor sings out the final note. I hold my breath, waiting for it to take one of its own before continuing its normal rhythm, but it never does. It just keeps on going.

"No!" I grab the back of his head before cramming it into a tight hug. Tears fill my eyes then stream down my face as I scream out my agony. "Naruto!"

My head jolts up. I stare in wide-eyed confusion at the scene in front of me. I'm facing a large floor to ceiling curtain, glowing pale yellow from the sunshine behind it. Almost everything is a telling hospital white, overly bright with cleanliness. I glance down, slowly taking in the white bed sheets beneath me. I'm dressed in my typical casual clothes, blue skirt, red vest, and yellow t-shirt. Both my arms and legs are curled up under me in almost a fetal position.

Bee-

The long shrill sound causes me to shift my gaze over to the table beside the bed. Underneath the shade of a drooping bunch of flowers is a watch, screeching out the last tone of its alarm as it blinks wildly.

Clumsily, I drag one of my numb arms out from under me. After fumbling with the buttons for a minute, I finally get the obnoxious device to shut up and lay back in relief.

Naruto's not dead, I remind myself as I roll over onto my back. He's sleeping on the other side of that curtain. Tsunade-sama said that his operations went perfectly, that there was nothing to worry about and all he needed was rest. I even checked him out myself.

I swipe at my forehead uncomfortably, grimacing as a shining coat of perspiration smears on the back of my hand. I've had dreams like that before and not just in the past couple days. I'm not usually one for nightmares, but sometimes, in the dark reaches of the night, when I feel all alone and there's no friend to hold me, the deaths I've seen find time to catch up with me.

Unbidden tears sting the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over. Hugging myself, I curl up on my side once again, this time facing the wall. Everything has changed so much. War and death have wreaked their havoc on lives and village alike. Everyone knows someone who will never walk through the gates of Konoha again. Some more than others. I'm one of those "some."

Warmth drips down my face as I struggle to get a hold of myself, to relax for just a moment without the memories flooding in. I want to go see Naruto, but not like this, even though he's probably still asleep. He can always tell when I'm hurting and I know that it hurts him too. Even he, the ever-cheerful savior of the world, didn't exit this war unscathed. Every so often I'll see it, a haunted look of despair as the laughter momentarily fades from his eyes. Some nights, we'll sit together and he'll simply hold me, just as much for his comfort as for mine. We still have many friends in the village – shopkeepers, mentors, civilians and shinobi alike. Naruto's always had a knack for making friends, but as far as true heart and soul friendships go, I'm basically all he has left.

Finally getting myself under control, I wipe my face with the edge of my shirt, rubbing it gently dry. I lay still for a moment, breathing deeply as I slowly calm myself down. Concentrating on my surroundings, I feel the slight bits of pressure where the sheet is wrinkled under me, and inhale the thick, familiar scent of a sterilized hospital room as I stare blankly at the white wall, slightly yellow from the tinge of the sunlit room behind the curtain.

Taking one final deep breath, I push myself up slowly and swing my legs over the side of the bed to shove them into my boots which sit neatly on the floor. After buckling them and straightening my wrinkled clothes, I run my fingers through my short hair, allowing the cool air to seep through the mat of tangled locks. Reaching over to the bedside table, I drag my headband off the surface and use it to tie back my hair and then brace my hands on my thighs to help me stand.

The soles of my boots click pleasantly on the tile floor as I walk over to the curtain and pull back the edge to peek silently into the other side of the room. The figure on the bed is bathed in morning sunshine that floods through the window. He slumps gracelessly on a pile of propped up pillows, eyes closed, face pleasantly slack, and normally wild hair drooping limply down over his forehead. His chest rises and falls slowly as the collar of his hospital gown quivers with each deep breath. I pause for a moment, taking in the sight with a smile before pushing the curtain all the way the way back, the rings on top clinking against each other quietly as they slide along the curtain rod.

Walking around the end of the bed, I lower myself silently into the single chair that occupies the room and slide a book off the sunlit window sill. The paper cover is warm beneath my fingers as I dig my fingernail in between an old, folded check-up form and the page that it marks before flipping the book open.

**カ****ツ**

A soft groan causes me to glance up from my book. A blonde head rolls back and forth listlessly on the pillow. Closed eyelids scrunch together before cracking open to reveal the shining blue orbs underneath. "Sakura-chan?"

Snapping my book closed, I toss it behind me into the chair as I stand. "Hey Naruto. How you feeling?"

He mumbles something sleepily before trying to sit the rest of the way up. Rushing to his side, I help support him as I shift and plump the pillows at his back. "There," I say, releasing him to lean back once again. "Try to relax. You need to rest as much as you can."

He nods, looking up to meet my eyes seriously. "Where's Sasuke?"

I quickly turn my attention to fixing his blanket. "Sasuke's fine. He's recovering in a room down the hall."

From the corner of my eye, I watch as a wide grin spreads across Naruto's face. Closing his eyes he leans back his head, laughing quietly. "He's back, Sakura-chan. He's back! After all these years."

I try to smile at him but am suddenly swamped by a wave of rage. How could he laugh when he just ran off to fight Sasuke all by himself! He could've died and left me for good!

My face pinching into a glare, I raise my hand and smack Naruto across the back of the head.

"Itai!" he screeches, ducking down as he clutches his head. "What was that for?"

I wave my fist at him. "Baka! How dare you transport Sasuke off to the Valley of the End! We had to chase you two all the way out there and you could've been killed!"

Glancing up sheepishly, Naruto continues to rub the back of his head. "Uh, sorry, Sakura-chan."

My anger melts away as I watch his blue eyes stare at me, wide and pleading. "Don't you ever do that again." I growl softly, but my façade of annoyance is ruined when I throw my arms around him. "Ever," I whisper, pressing my forehead into the side of his neck.

His arms encircle me without hesitation and squeeze comfortingly around my shoulders. After a moment, I release him and step back, swiping at my suddenly teary eyes in irritation.

"So, Sasuke's alright?"

Shooting my eyes down towards the floor, I nod slowly.

A moment of silence. "Sakura-chan, are _you_ alright?"

I continue to stare down at the white tiles for a moment, considering my options carefully. This should be one of the happiest days of Naruto's life. He's finally brought back the friend he's been chasing for years, our teams is whole again, or as whole as it'll ever be. I don't want to dampen his happy victory, but…

Finally looking up to meet his eyes, the flood of concern I see there, tugs at my conscience. It might hurt him more if I don't bring this out now. It's something I need to talk to him about, before he gets too carried away.

"Naruto, has it ever occurred to you, that the Sasuke in the room down the hall isn't… isn't Team 7's Sasuke anymore?"

His eyes drop down to the hands fiddling in his lap, but not before I can see the hurt register in them. I immediately regret my words, but they needed to be said. Sasuke isn't the old Sasuke anymore. Naruto needs to realize that.

"Yes." Naruto finally answers.

My eyes widen in shock, I never expected this. Naruto's always been so sure that he can save Sasuke, that we'll all be together as Team 7 again, that we can fix everything that's happened, either that or die trying. I would never suspect that he had doubts as well.

He glances up to meet my gaze squarely once again. "The old Sasuke would never attack Konoha or his friends. He was cold but in his own way he still cared. His hatred was buried deep inside him and founded in the ideal of getting stronger to protect the ones he loved."

I nod slowly.

"But," he continues, "That doesn't mean that this Sasuke, the one so marred by hatred and hurt, isn't _our _Sasuke. He's still the same person, just beaten down and smothered again and again by the distorted ideology that's been pounded into him over the years. Sasuke's still in there. That's still him. We just need to bring him out of the shell that's suffocating him. We brought him back to Konoha he hasn't really been saved…yet."

With a grunt of effort, Naruto leans over to grasp my hand in his own. "We can still be a team. Team 7 isn't dead until _we're_ dead. Sasuke's chosen another path for so long now that he's blinded to anything else, but we can still show it to him. And maybe, if we show him long enough, eventually he'll follow us."

I squeeze his hand back. "Show him what?"

" Love. In friendship."

Releasing his hand, I cross my arms a little grumpily. "When did you get so wise, Naruto?"

He smirks, placing his arms behind his head cockily. "Well, I've always been one of Konoha's brightest."

"Baka! You were the stupidest one in class! You would've failed if it hadn't been for Iruka-sensei…"

Naruto continues to grin as he listens to my rant. Even as I scold him, I smile inwardly as well. He's right. We still have a chance to be Team 7.

**カ****ツ**

Hesitating for a moment, I take a deep breath, my gaze traveling from my hand to the metal handle of the door and back. I'm not sure I'm ready for this. It's been a long time since I spoke to Sasuke face to face. I've seen him of course, but the confrontation has always been between him and Naruto. I've always been in the background.

Naturally he'll hate me. No matter how important we used to be to each other, I'm from Konoha. That's the only thing he can see about me now, but I need to talk to him, to start him on that path that Naruto talked about. He needs to heal and I can help him. It'll be a long, hard journey, but he can do it and I have to get him through it. For all of us.

Clenching my fist in resolve, I grab the handle and slide open the door, setting a foot firmly inside the room before I can change my mind. Looking up towards the bed where I expect to find an either asleep or glaring and restrained Sasuke, I suddenly freeze at the sight in front of me.

It's empty. The bed – the whole room in fact – is empty. The sheets stripped, medical equipment and guards that should be here gone. Am I in the wrong room?

Stepping out, I close the door, biting my lip in confusion. This is, well, _was_ his room but what happened? Did his body suddenly reject one of the blood transfusions? Did his condition worsen and he was moved back into intensive care?

Worriedly, I grab the arm of a passing nurse, probably a little harder than necessary. "Where's the patient who was in this room?" I demand.

The young woman's large chocolate eyes widen as she looks at me almost fearfully. "U-Uchiha Sasuke?" she stutters nervously. "S-some shinobi came and got him a few hours ago. I-I don't w-where they took him."

My brow knits together in confusion. Some shinobi? Maybe the hospital staff required him to be guarded while being moved.

"Were they moving him to a different ward?"

She shakes her head emphatically. "I-I don't think so. He was conscious but t-they had him blind folded and his arms chained behind him. They dragged him off and then…I-I don't know what else happened."

"Oh, no," I whisper, a bit horrified. Releasing the woman's arm, I push past her towards the exit. This never occurred to me. Sure Sasuke is an S-Class criminal, but everyone holds Naruto in such high respect, they wouldn't dare touch his old comrade! Would they?

Are they gonna lock him up? Or put him on trial and then…?

The thought frightens me into a sprint. Shoving past anyone in my path, I push my way towards the door and out, immediately jumping onto the nearest roof to head towards the Hokage Tower.

**カ****ツ**

"Tsunade-sama!" I yell as I slam the open the door to her office. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Shizune jump as the door crashes against the wall.

"Sakura?" Tsunade-sama arches an eyebrow at my rather dramatic entrance.

I stalk towards the desk. "I demand that Sasuke be released. Now!" Even I'm surprised at the tone of my voice. I've never been so rude to my shisou in my life. It's not like me at all.

The Hokage leans back in her chair. "From the hospital?"

"No! From –" I pause. I don't even know where he is and from the look on Tsunade-sama's face, apparently she doesn't either. "Some shinobi arrested him from his room. I don't know where they took him."

My shisou's eyebrows snap together angrily. "Who was it?"

"I don't know."

I jump as Tsunade-sama springs to her feet and slams a hand down on her desk. "I ordered ANBU to keep him guarded in his room! We were going to wait for Naruto to take any action. Shizune!"

The woman winces at the Hokage's much louder than necessary summons. "Y-yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"I want a meeting with the elders right now! They're involved in this somehow."

"Hai!"

I step out of the way as Shizune bolts towards the door, Tonton clutched in her arms. Sitting back down, Tsunade-sama rests her chin on her laced fingers. "We'll get him back, Sakura," she says, eyes narrowed fiercely. "Don't worry."

**カ****ツ**

"How long are they gonna talk?" I grunt in frustration, my boots stomping noisily as I do my best to wear a hole in the floor of Tsunade-sama's office.

"Be patient," Shizune reminds me gently. "Any negotiation with the elders always takes time."

"But it's been two hours already!" I stop and face her, placing my fists on my hips as I demand an explanation she can't give.

She studies me for a moment, hands clasped properly in front of her, eyes brimming with sympathy. "He'll be alright, Sakura."

Dejectedly, I slump over to the Hokage's desk to lean back against it. "We just got him back. After so many years," I say, quietly. "Naruto's already lost so many people. He couldn't take it if he lost Sasuke too after coming so close."

"And what about you?" she asks, softly.

Crossing my arms defensively, I glare angrily at the floor "I'm not his silly little fan girl anymore."

"I know, but you still love him, don't you?"

Knowing that guilt is plastered all over my face, I turn away from her. "I-I don't know. I'm just not sure any more." I shake my head, smiling grimly. "I thought I was done being weak."

"Love isn't weakness," Shizune says gently. "You're more mature now. You understand that true love isn't just infatuation. If you love Sasuke, I'm sure it's founded in friendship and genuine concern for him."

Staring down at my crossed arms, I bite my lip as I consider Shizune's words. I know that I actually did really love Sasuke at some point, but maybe I don't anymore. Maybe I just care about him because he's my…

Friend. I realize. Sasuke's my friend. That's what Naruto's been trying to get through to me all along. No matter how lost Sasuke is, no matter how much he changes or hates us, he's still our friend. Romance can come and go, but love, the true love and bond of friendship never fades as long one end holds strong. Naruto and I have to be that strong end. Maybe together, we can reel Sasuke back in.

Tilting my head up, I finally meet Shizune's concerned gaze. "Thank you." I tell her.

She gives me a small smile.

I quickly turn my attention back to the floor. "I can't lose Sasuke, but more than just for me. If he can't hold out, I don't know what it will do to Naruto, especially after coming so close."

"Don't worry, Sakura. They're both strong."

"No," I shake my head. "Sasuke's weak. He's given into hatred time and time again. I'm not sure he has the strength to turn away from it."

"Then you'll just have to trust that Naruto can bring him back to the light, just like he has with countless others."

I give her a small, grateful smile. "You're right. I can believe in him."

I suddenly straighten at the sound of heels clicking down the hallway towards us. The door bursts open to reveal a fuming and cursing Hokage as she storms into the office.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune exclaims, probably both in surprise and reprimand for her language.

The Hokage stomps around her desk without meeting either of our gazes and falls back into her chair. "The elders have him, but they won't release him."

"What?!" I practically scream, pounding an angry fist on the desk, making the papers scattered across it jump. "But how can they do that?"

"Because they're vile, despicable…" she mumbles the rest as she folds her hands neatly on the desk and looks me square in the eye. "They're claiming that he's being questioned for information on Zetsu."

"But Zetsu died in the war!" Shizune exclaims.

Tsunade-sama sighs tiredly. "I know but since his remains were never actually found, they're claiming that he could still be at large."

"But that's completely ridiculous!" I clench and unclench my fists, trying to vent a little of my frustration before I completely lose it. "Shikamaru and many other Konoha shinobi _saw_ him die. And even if he were alive, Madara and Obito were his only motivations for hostility against the village. They're both gone! Zetsu wouldn't pose any sort of threat anymore!"

"I know it and so do they!" Tsunade-sama bites her lip angrily. "You know what this means don't you, Sakura?"

I freeze, realization dawning on me. The elders never had any intention of allowing Naruto to take care of Sasuke. They're going to question him under pretense of a threat and then get rid of him, without ever letting Naruto or I try to talk him into peacefully rejoining the village. Those bastards!

Angry tears start to build behind my eyes. I duck my head, clenching my eyes shut tightly as the tears squeeze out and down my cheeks. "Where'd they take him?"

"I finally got them to tell me that. He's in Ibiki's interrogation room, although I don't think that Ibiki's the one doing the interrogating."

My head snaps up. "Ibiki-san's?!" A slew of horrible images assaults my mind. Ibiki-san's interrogation room is used for one purpose and one purpose only…torture.

Without another thought, I spin on my heel and bolt straight for the door. Elders or no elders, they aren't going to take away our one chance of becoming a team again.

"Sakura, wait!" Tsunade-sama snaps commandingly. Gritting my teeth, I hesitate for just a moment. Exempting advice on money and booze, my shisou has never led me wrong before.

The Hokage opens her mouth to speak but is interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in!" she orders.

The door swings open as Lee-san rushes past me up to the Tsunade-sama's desk. "Hokage-sama!" he salutes officially. "You sent for me?"

She nods, her amber eyes meeting mine meaningfully. "Go with Sakura. You're under her direct command. Obey her orders to the letter do you understand?"

"Hai!"

The edge of my mouth slides up in a half, but very grateful, smile. I give her a small bow before turning to Lee-san. "Let's go."

**カ****ツ**

"What if they won't let us in?" Lee-san whispers, as we duck cautiously behind a corner of Konoha's official Intel Headquarters.

"That's your job, Lee-san," I whisper back, peering down the empty hallway. At the end of it is Ibiki's interrogation room. "There may be guards with orders to keep me out. I need you to make sure I get through no matter what."

He nods, black bowl cut bobbing uniformly. "Are you going to grab Sasuke?"

I shake my head. "I doubt I'll be able to. All I really need to do is put a stop to this madness."

"You can count on me, Sakura-san!"

Nodding in acknowledgement, I wave for him to follow me as I start down the hall. Our footsteps echo eerily in the long, empty stone corridor. An unwelcome shiver runs down my spine. This section of the building is underground, causing the cool air to hold an almost sickly dampness.

I narrow my eyes at the large metal door in front of us, it's large steel surface providing what appears to be an impenetrable obstruction; however, as the Hokage's apprentice, I know the barrier jutsu used on this particular door, as well as how to undo it.

Quickly running through the hand signs as we approach, I stop directly in front of the door and slam my palm against its surface. Chakra shoots out through my hand and slips into the correct key pattern, causing the door to quiver and undoing the jutsu. Stepping back, I motion to Lee-san who nods and steps up to deliver a firm karate kick through the entrance.

As the door swings open, I stalk into the room, head held high, arms crossed imperiously. Glaring haughtily around the small space as two shinobi quickly jump to their feet, I notice that we're not as much in the interrogation room itself as an entryway to it. A much larger room must lie around the corner.

"What are you doing here?" one of the shinobi spits out, obviously shocked that anyone was able to pass through what is supposed to be an unbreakable barrier jutsu.

"We're under orders from Hokage-sama." I tell him loftily. "You are interrogating a prisoner and we are here to take him into custody."

"B-but we are under orders from the elders," the other guard splutters. "No one is to enter or talk to the prisoner until we've received all the information we need from him."

Covering the short distance between us, I stand on my tip toes so that my nose is less than an inch from his. "Those orders have been changed," I hiss, fixing him with a fierce stare. "Now you _will_ release the prisoner to us."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-san," the other guard clears his throat. So he knows who I am. That's not too surprising. As Tsunade-sama's apprentice, I'm fairly well known, but it could also mean that the elders briefed him on me and Naruto in particular. "We have been specifically instructed not to let_ you_ see the prisoner."

I cock an eyebrow at him. I guess it's the latter.

"Well that's too bad," I step around the man I've been glowering at and towards the end of the small room, where I'm sure the real interrogation room is.

The other guard quickly blocks my path. "I'm sorry. I can't let you go in there."

After matching my glare with his for a moment, I shrug casually. "Fine." The man visibly relaxes and before he knows what's happened he's laying flat on his back, my foot planted firmly on his chest.

"Hold him Lee!" I shout, leaping over the stunned guard and sprinting across the room.

"Wait!" the guard who I didn't attack yells, but his voice is quickly cut off and followed by a crashing noise. I smirk and silently thank Tsunade-sama for sending Lee with me.

As I turn the corner, just as I suspected, I find another door leading hopefully to the interrogation room. This one is steel as well, but I can tell from the design that it is made to keep sound in rather than people out. Grabbing the handle, I fling the door open and burst into the dimly lit room.

My mouth drops in horror at the scene before me. Two shinobi flank a single man chained between two poles at the center of the room, his back to the door. Deep gashes cover every inch of his bare back, dripping blood all the way down his torso and legs to form a pool around his chained and bare feet. His body is slick with sweat, head drooped forward, knees sagging towards the floor as only the chains around his limp wrists serve to support him.

At the sound of my entrance, one shinobi whirls around to look at me, but the other stays turned towards his victim, raising the whip in his hand to strike once again.

"Stop!" I scream making the shinobi pause, whip poised in mid-air.

At the sound of my voice, Sasuke's shoulders flex, chains digging deeper into his wrists as he strains to pull himself up, but his body quickly goes slack, the effort obviously too much for him.

My medical mind does a quick analysis. There's far too much blood. He should be dead already. They must've been replenishing his blood or even healing him completely before going at it again.

"What are you doing here!" one shinobi demands.

Placing my fists on my hips, I glower at them furiously. This is beyond any sort of interrogation. This is just plain cruelty. "I have orders from the Hokage for you to place Uchiha Sasuke in _my_ custody. Now!"

One of the shinobi sneers at me. "Well we have orders from the elders to get information out of this piece of scum." He flicks his whip lightly, the edge of it slicing into Sasuke's bicep. I shoot him a livid growl as Sasuke flinches.

Grabbing a kunai out of my ninja pouch, I point it at him threateningly. "If you touch him one more time, I'll pin you to the wall where you stand!"

"Try me!" He suddenly rushes at me, his comrade close behind. I crouch low on the balls of my feet, fully prepared to take them both on, but before they reach me, a dark figure shoves past me to meet them.

"Go Sakura-san!" Lee-san yells taking his taijutsu stance.

"Arigatou, Lee!" I watch Lee-san land the first hit before turning my back to the skirmish, the thuds and grunts of blocked and landed punches fading in my ears as I approach Sasuke. Skirting the poles, I slow my pace as I walk around to face him.

Some of the gashes on his back, curl around his sides to drip blood down his front alongside a few sluggishly bleeding wounds on his chest. Blood drips out of the edge of his mouth and down his chin, partially hidden by the long bangs, matted with blood and sweat, drooping listlessly over his face, stirring as each labored breath tosses them away from his mouth. Behind them, his coal-colored eyes are glazed over, staring dully down at the floor. He looks tired rather than pained. His mind is still probably groggy from the sedatives and pain meds he was on at the hospital, but I can tell from his green coloring that the pain has made him sick. He's probably been dry-heaving since there's nothing in his stomach. .

"Sasuke," I say gently, approaching him with one hand outstretched.

The commotion by the door quiets. I glance up to see all three shinobi a little rumpled but not too worse for wear simply standing in defensive stances, eyeing each other and me. Apparently the guards have given up on trying to throw us out.

Reaching towards the lively fire at the center of my core, I carefully draw a thread of it to pool in my hand, sending with it my intention to heal.

As my hand glows green, one of the guards protests. "You can't do that! You can't heal him!"

"Why not?" I snap, my hand hovering just beside Sasuke's head.

"Because those are chakra suppressing chains! Any chakra you put inside his body could break the seal they have on his system!"

I glare up into the man's eyes which are wide in fear. He clutches his kunai tighter, raising it ready for action. He's more afraid of Sasuke than me and Lee-san. If I make a move to release Sasuke, he'll try to kill me and maybe Sasuke too.

The glow fades from my hand as I allow my chakra to disperse and both of the interrogators relax a bit. Looking back down at Sasuke, I bend down so that my head is level with his and run two fingers gently under his chin to tilt it up. "We'll get you out of here," I whisper. "I promise."

Eyebrows pinching together in a weak glare, he licks the edges of his dried, bloody lips before gathering up enough saliva to spit in my face. I swipe it off with the back of my hand, but don't let go of his chin. "You're not alone," I murmur, running my thumb down the side of his cheek. "You never will be. No matter how much you want to, you can't cut the bonds between us."

Reflections of the torchlight dance on the edges of his dark, narrowed eyes. They've suddenly come alive because they have a purpose again, something more to direct his hatred at. If that has to be me, so be it. Naruto can fix it. We can all fix it. I know we can.

Slowly allowing his head to droop back to its old position, I straighten and face the two guards once again. "You've healed him before, now how did you do it?" They shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, glancing at each other nervously. "Well?" I demand.

"We sedated him," one of the guards finally grumbles. "And took the chains off."

"Good, you'll do it again. I'll heal him and then you'll keep him asleep, but resting in a cell, understand?"

They remain silent, eyes flickering back and forth between Lee-san's glare and my own. After a few tense moments, one of the guards sighs and reaches back to pull a syringe out of his ninja pouch. "The elders are going to kill us for this."

**カ****ツ**

"How dare they!" Naruto screeches as he paces back and forth angrily in front of the hospital bed that he's supposed to be _in_. "How could they do something like that?!"

I shake my head, still silently fuming over the elders' treatment of Sasuke. "At least he's not being tortured anymore." As angry as I am right now, I need to calm Naruto down before he rushes off and does something very stupid. "He should be sedated and resting in a cell. I healed him myself."

"But who knows when they'll start again," Naruto growls. Finally, he stops pacing to slam his hands down on top of the footboard with a loud curse. The bed jumps beneath me, almost startling me off of it.

"If we hadn't been brought back, none of this would've happened," he mumbles. My eyes dart up, glancing at his bowed head worriedly as he leans over the bed. "I should've put more into it."

I bite my lip for a moment, wondering if I should voice the thought running through my head. "You mean, put more into the battle so that you would've died," I finally murmur. He ducks his head even a bit further. "You wish that you and Sasuke had died."

He slowly raises his gaze to meet mine, eyes shining with guilt. I've hit on the truth. I knew that he planned to die in battle with Sasuke, but I didn't know that he wanted it this much.

Pushing myself up off the bed, I walk around to the end of it and grasp his shoulders, pulling him up straight so that I can throw my arms around him. "Please don't say that." My voice breaks a bit. "Please don't say that you want to leave me."

He returns my hug, pressing his cheek firmly against my hair. "I don't want to leave you, but as his friend, I –"

"You're my friend too." I slide my hand up to the back of his head, holding him even tighter. "You never give up. Don't give up on life, Naruto."

"I haven't. Not yet."

I give him one final squeeze before stepping back and holding him at arm's length, glaring at him seriously. "I promise, if you die on me, I will resurrect you somehow just for the satisfaction of killing you myself."

He chuckles nervously. "Okay, Sakura-chan."

With a firm nod, I release him and lean back against the wall. My threat may be something of a joke, but I'm deathly serious about him not leaving me. I can see it in his eyes. He's not afraid to die. I'm the one who needs him to live so badly. "So what should we do about Sasuke?"

"Well we can't just leave him there and the elders won't release him."

"But surely we can persuade them somehow! The villagers love you Naruto! Perhaps we could get them to protest. The elders couldn't defy the whole village."

Naruto grimaces, slumping onto the bed, his head in his hands. "I'm not sure they love me that much. Sasuke wasn't exactly behind the scenes during the war. He went out of his way to kill Konoha shinobi and besides, even if we could get their support, the elders would kill Sasuke long before we could get him released." He raises his head, glaring fiercely towards me, though I know his anger isn't directed at me. "They're not gonna let him go, Sakura-chan."

He's right. There's really nothing we could do to get the elders to change their minds. They're hell-bent on killing Sasuke and I can't really say that I blame them.

"There's only one way," Naruto suddenly stands, hands place on his hips determinedly.

I stare at him in confusion for a moment, before my eyes widen in realization. "Naruto, no. You'll never be able to return to the village again! You'll be marked as a criminal! A-and besides that, you're too weak!" Since the Kyuubi's chakra was almost depleted in the battle with Sasuke, for once Naruto's healing has been painfully slow.

He narrows his eyes. "It's the only way."

"But we just can't do something like that!"

"Who ever said anything about 'we'?"

I glare at him, "I'm coming and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

He shoots me a foxy grin. "I thought you said we couldn't do it."

Crossing my arms, I turn my head up loftily. "We can't but I'm coming anyway." I drop the arrogant façade and meet his gaze firmly for a moment. "We're still Team 7, remember?"

He smiles. "Yeah, Team 7."

I blow out my breath in an annoyed huff. "I just knew you were gonna do something stupid."

He chuckles. "It's not stupid. It's daring."

* * *

_A/N Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait but I hope it was worth it. I didn't do too much editing because I wanted to get it out fast so sorry for any mistakes. Please note them when you review. Notice I said __when__ not __if :)__ Anyway, thanks to all of you who are sticking with this. Sorry that this chapter was posted in two sections. I'll try not to do that again because I know it must be kind of confusing. Thanks, love you all, and God bless!_


	4. IV Naruto

蛙 | **Naruto**

"He's in a holding cell inside the interrogation room," Sakura-chan whispers.

I peer around the corner and stare down the long, dark hallway, lit only by a few fluorescent bulbs spaced between rows of office doors. "Which one's the interrogation room?" I ask.

Sakura-chan sighs from behind me. "Baka. It's the one at the end. The big metal one that says 'Morino Ibiki' on it!"

I wince as her voice rises far above a whisper, but am too scared to mention it. It's much safer for me to be caught than risk Sakura-chan's wrath by pointing out that she should be quieter. Glancing towards the end of the hallway, sure enough there stands a metal door with a plaque to the side of it. Morino Ibiki: Commanding Officer Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force.

"You didn't tell me that Ibiki-san was doing the interrogation!" I shudder. That man gives me the creeps. I think he secretly has it out for me.

"Shh!" Sakura-chan flicks the back of my head. "He's not. He's more in line with the Hokage than the elders. They probably picked shinobi who had a particular grudge against Sasuke, like he killed a member of their family or something."

I nod, studying the door for just a moment longer.

"You ready?" Sakura-chan finally asks.

"Let's go."

We head purposefully down the silent hallway. Besides possible guards inside the interrogation room, no one else should be working at this hour. When we reach the end of the hallway, Sakura-chan places both hands on the door. They start to glow blue with chakra for a moment, before her eyebrows snap together agitatedly.

"They changed the lock," she mutters.

"What lock?"

Instead of answering me she shoots more chakra into her hands. After a couple minutes of irritated grunts and curses, a loud click sounds inside the door. Grinning in triumph, Sakura-chan pushes it open. I tense, ready to meet some sort of resistance, but there are no shouts of protest or flying fists. The door opens on an empty room.

"Perfect. No guards." I grin.

"Of course there're guards," she grumbles. "They must be in the main room. That's where the holding cells are."

I follow her around the corner to another door. She reaches for the handle but I grab her arm. "Let me go in first."

She nods and steps back. Taking a deep breath, I fling open the door and stride into the room.

Two guards spring towards us. "What are you do-?"

I hold up my hand, stopping their progress as well as their questions. "The elders told us we could talk to Sasuke."

The man and woman look at each other, unsure of how to act. "But Naruto-san, we didn't receive any orders."

"We have them." I glance behind me, shoving my hands in my pockets. "Sakura-chan, show them the authorization."

She nods, her face blank as she walks forward and reaches into her ninja pouch. Fingering the cloth in my pocket, I try to appear relaxed but am really preparing to spring into action when the time comes. As I see Sakura approach the woman and start to remove her hand, I dash forward, slapping my palm over the man's mouth as I pull his head into a tight hug. Wrenching the cloth out of my pocket, I stick it over his nose. His panicked, deep breaths quickly taking in the smell of whatever Sakura-chan put on this thing.

After only a few seconds, the struggling jabs and jerks weaken and then stop altogether as the shinobi falls limp in my arms. Releasing the grip I have on his head, I lay the unconscious man gently on the ground and watch Sakura-chan do the same with the equally unresponsive kunoichi.

"We'll have to hurry," Sakura-chan says quietly. "They won't be out for too long."

I nod and reach up to wipe the side of my forehead on the back of my wrist. Despite our lack of action so far, I'm already coated in a thin layer of sweat. It's probably from nervousness more than anything plus I'm not totally healed from my fight with Sasuke.

Bracing one hand on my knee, I try to push myself up, but my limbs feel too thick and heavy. My body doesn't seem to want to cooperate with my brain as my calf spazzes out, forcing me back onto one knee.

"Naruto?" Sakura-chan's voice is slow and groggy. Is something wrong with her?

The lights in the room start to fade. Maybe the power's going out. Well I guess that's fine with me. The exhaustion of the day is starting to catch up with me I suppose. I could use a nice long nap. The darkening floor is starting to look extremely inviting as the stones mesh together to form a single, fuzzy, dark blur.

**Naruto! Wake up! Now's not the time to be sleeping. **A spark shoots from one side of my head to the other, sending a small shock wave through whatever is in between.

_Kurama?_ My inner voice sounds wobbly, even to me.

**You held the drugged cloth near your face when you wiped the sweat off, kid! **A faint image of him shaking his head in exasperation slides through my mind. **Come on. Pull yourself together!**

Shaking my head firmly, I stay kneeling until the lights come back on and I can feel my legs beneath me once again. Sakura-chan's laying into me with a quiet frustration.

"Naruto you idiot! Just because you're using the cloth doesn't mean that you're immune! Come on give me that thing." She holds out her hand expectantly, snapping her fingers back and forth impatiently.

I stare at her for a moment before finally realizing what she wants and handing over the drugged handkerchief. She quickly snatches and seals it in a plastic bag along with her own. After that's taken care of Sakura-chan kneels back down beside the unconscious kunoichi.

"Where's Sasuke?" I ask, glancing around the room as she begins to dig through the woman's ninja articles. Claws, hooks, whips, and other unidentifiable instruments decorate the gloomy walls. Half scrubbed away blood stains the stone floor like eerie shadows as chains drape with frightening regularity over work tables, poles, and other "furnishings" about the room. I shiver. Is it possible that the tortured souls of past shinobi haunt this room? Maybe their ghosts linger, waiting to exact revenge on some unfortunate soul who enters here.

"He's in that cell." Sakura-chan jerks her head towards a door to my left, snapping me out of my reverie. Gear jingles as she fumbles with the kunoichi's belt and then grins in triumph as she finally holds up a clinking ring of keys. "Here we go."

I follow her as she marches over to the door, glancing about nervously as she starts to try the keys. Did that piece of rope on the work table just move on its own? Maybe it was once used to strangle a prisoner and their soul is still caught in its grasp!

"Got it!" she announces, the loud whine of the door making me jump as she enters the dark room. I can't see a thing. "Keep an eye on those two just in case," she orders.

I turn back towards the unconscious jōnin and watch the room carefully. I swear that that set of tools on the wall looks like an eye. It's watching me!

**Calm down, kid. There's no such things as ghosts.** The voice inside my head startles my already on-edge nerves.

_How do you know that?_

**Because it's stupid, that's why. Get your head out of your rear end!**

I cross my arms defensively. _They _could _exist._

**Even if they did, don't you have bigger things to worry about right now?**

Hanging my head a bit, I begrudgingly acknowledge Kurama's point. Deserting the village isn't exactly a small step. It's ruining everything I've ever worked for, goals, friends, connections...my whole life!

**And Sakura's too.** Kurama puts in.

_No, not hers. I won't let it. I'll find a way! You can depend on it dattebayo!_

Kurama doesn't reply and Sakura-chan snaps me out of my thoughts by calling me into the cell. The air inside is cool and damp, but not much more than the room outside it. Even though I can sense his presence and hear his breathing, I have to squint to see an unconscious and worn but fairly clean Sasuke on a metal bed at the back of the cell. He has fresh bandages and fresh clothes, obviously complements of Sakura-chan.

"I've drugged him up," she whispers, even though we already incapacitated the only two people down here. "He should be out for several hours, long enough for us to..." she swallows a bit painfully before continuing. "You should carry him. Be quiet and do _exactly_ as I tell you. I can't believe that two lousy jōnin would be the elder's only security."

I nod. "Sure Sakura-chan. As long as you promise me one thing."

She quirks an eyebrow at me.

"If we get caught, you take Sasuke and run. Take him to the hideout and wait for me there. If I don't show up, then just continue on with the plan."

She narrows her eyes. "Naruto. I'm _not_ leaving you."

"Sasuke is our first priority." You're _my_ first priority. "If something happens, you have to get him out." I cross my arms, fixing her with a stern stare.

She meets my hard look with one of her own. "It won't come to that. We're all leaving. Together."

My eyes soften. I sure hope so.

Walking over to Sasuke's bed, I grab his shoulders and slowly pull him upright, bending over to plant my shoulder on his chest as one of my arms slips under his legs.

"What are you doing?" Sakura-chan asks before I can lift him.

"Uh, you said I should carry him," I point out.

Blowing out a long breath, Sakura-chan closes her eyes as her arms cross. "Not that way. You can't throw him over your shoulder, he's injured!"

Straightening, I lay my friend back down. "So how do you want me to carry him?"

''In your arms. You know..."

My face springs into a fully appalled glare as realization dawns on me. "You mean, like, bridal style?"

"Well you don't have to call it that, but yeah."

With a long sigh, I bend over him again. The rough cloth of both the sheet and his clothes tugging at my skin as I very carefully slide my hands underneath his back and knees. Curling my arms around him, I straighten, pulling his rather light body up into my hold.

Looking down at his pale face, barely two feet away from mine, and partially illuminated by a stark path of light from the open door, I jump and almost drop him. It's so…relaxed. Sasuke's face has been passive, but never relaxed and never so...so close! I haven't been face to face with him since he left Konoha many years ago, unless you count the times that we've been hurtling towards each other with deadly weapons or ninjutsu in our hands. He's been pretty close then, but otherwise, he's always been a sort of small, figure on the other side of a battle field, features a bit blurred by the distance.

Now, seeing him so close up, I think reality is sort of crashing down on me. This is the first I've seen of him since we fought and I guess it just hasn't seemed real until now. We got Sasuke back. We did it! He's here, like _right_ here.

My happy thoughts are somewhat shattered by remembrance of the reason we've come, why there are two unconscious ninja on the floor out there, and why Sasuke's in my arms instead of resting in the hospital or something. Eyes narrowing in determination, I glance up to see Sakura-chan watching him as well, though probably for a different reason. I almost smile, remembering how, many years ago, she would've blushed and squealed at the sight of an unconscious Sasuke so close to her. As I study her for any such reaction now, I'm almost relieved to find nothing more than what looks like a sort of clinical concern.

Sakura-chan has told me many times that she's given up on loving Sasuke, and not like the hoax she tried to pull in the Land of Iron where she simply wanted me to give up chasing him. I know she still loved him at that point and even through most of the war, but eventually, her heart sort of moved on I suppose. She hasn't loved anyone since though, at least not in _that _way.

"I still want him to come home," she said, one of the many times that we spent all night simply talking in my apartment. "I guess I just stopped fantasizing, stopped dreaming."

I could tell that this decision, or change, or whatever, had hurt her. She felt Sasuke's absence just as deeply as I did, just in a different way. It was still a relief to hear that her feelings had changed though and not because I wanted her to be with me, but because I knew that constantly longing for Sasuke in a romantic way was hurting her even more than a decision to move on.

Sakura-chan's eyes suddenly snap up to meet mine. I can now see a determination as deep as my own, shining through their depths as the dim light bounced brightly off their green surfaces. "Let's go."

I nod firmly, and follow her out of the cell. She's just as resolved as I am to fight for our team, even if that means giving up one thing that we both love more than anything..._almost_ anything. Family always comes first and by family, I mean Team 7.

蛙

A sudden curse flies out of Sakura-chan's mouth. I jump back in surprise as my arms, which are still holding Sasuke, collide with her back when she jerks to a halt in front of me.

"What?" I ask, probably a bit louder than I should, glancing around nervously. I don't feel anyone else's chakra down here besides ours and that of the two unconscious jōnin that we left back in the interrogation room.

"We missed a security camera," she whispers, pointing up towards the corner of the hallway. Sure enough, the slightest edge of light reflects off a small black camera hanging from the ceiling, making it just barely visible in the shadows. Oops. We got all the others turned off, but I'm positive that neither of us got that one.

With a curse of my own, I walk around to stand beside her.

"Oh, well," she shrugs, waving at the camera with a grim smile. "They'll play back the tape and confirm what they'll already know, that we helped Sasuke escape."

That can't happen. "Is the tape in the camera?"

"Should be. Wha-? Naruto, what are you doing?"

Sakura-chan grunts as I shove Sasuke into her arms and sprint over to the wall by the security camera. Shooting chakra down to my feet, I plant one foot on the wall and run up it. The familiar sensation of the pull of gravity shifting to my upper body, my back tensing as it works to hold me straight, only lasts a few seconds as I cover the short distance up to the camera and yank it open. Halting the flow of chakra to the soles of my feet, I reach inside the camera and pull out a shiny, flimsy length of tape, yanking it out as I drop back to the floor.

"Naruto, it doesn't matter if they see the film or not," Sakura-chan, who's followed me over to the wall, sighs in exasperation. "They're gonna know who did this."

I don't reply but simply slide my arms back under Sasuke to relieve her of his weight.

"Destroy this," I order, holding the film out to her as I shift Sasuke in my arms. This is not a comfortable way to carry someone for a long time.

"Naruto-"

"Please. Just do it, Sakura-chan."

She bites her lip, watching me worriedly for a second before grabbing the film from my hand. Holding it out in front of her, she wreathes her hand in a small flame of chakra. The tape disintegrates within a second. "There."

I nod my thanks. "Come on, we need to get out of here. You said that that drug wouldn't last very long." As soon as those jōnin wake up, they'll alert the village to Sasuke's escape. We need to be gone by then.

As I turn to head down the next hallway, fingers press into my shoulder, holding me back. I stop, but don't turn around.

"Naruto, are you sure you're okay with this?" Sakura asks softly. I keep my shoulders rigid, not wanting to show the impact that her words have on me. I know what she's asking. Are you okay with deserting Konoha? Are you okay with leaving your friends, your home, and all you've worked for? Are you okay with giving up your dream?

What she doesn't realize is that I'm not concerned about my ambition nearly as much as I'm concerned about her and Sasuke. They _are_ my dream.

"Are you?" I ask, tilting my head back just slightly so that I can watch her reaction.

Her eyes narrow and she nods firmly. I smile. It means a lot to me that she's willing to give up so much for me…for all of us.

I face forward again, glaring down the hallway in front of me. Even if she's willing to, I won't let her. She has so much more to lose than I do. I won't let her give it all up.

"Good, then let's go," I repeat. Her fingers lightly squeeze my shoulder one more time before relinquishing their hold as we head down the hallway.

蛙

"We're going to have to go over the wall," Sakura-chan whispers. "The minute we cross the village's barrier, they'll know exactly where we are."

"But it'll take them a while to get a team together to chase us, right?" I shift uncomfortably as twigs from the bush that we're crouched behind, poke into my back.

"The two guards are probably conscious by now. They should already have a team looking for us."

A sudden scraping of fabric against stone causes me to glance down at Sasuke whose propped up against the wall next to me, his knees forced up to his chest by the large bush. I reach out to grab Sasuke's shoulder as he starts to fall over and quickly sit him back upright before Sakura-chan, who's on my other side, notices. It's supposed to be my job to take care of Sasuke and I'm not doing a great job so far.

"Even with a head start, we'd probably lose in a chase because they'll obviously have Hyūgas to help track us." Sakura-chan muses quietly.

With Sasuke's legs crushed up against him like that, I don't really know what to do with his arms. I try placing them on top of his bent knees but they keep sliding off. I don't want to just lay them in the mud, although he's already kind of sitting in it so I guess it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

"It would be so much easier if they didn't know exactly where we exited the barrier." Sakura-chan mutters.

Suddenly an idea hits me. Holding Sasuke's wrists in one hand, I use the other to tilt his lolling head upright. His mouth is already hanging slightly ajar, but I slide his jaw down even a little further with my thumb. Grabbing one of his hands in each of mine, I make them both into fists, leaving only his pointer fingers up.

Sakura-chan continues to mumble to herself. "If we could somehow break the barrier in multiple places, they wouldn't know where to concentrate their search."

Curling his pointer fingers, I stick them into his mouth and hang them inside his lips. There. I drop his hands and allow them to droop, suspended from his mouth. I grin at my handiwork. Now I won't have to worry about his arms dropping into the mud.

"Naruto!" A sharp elbow digs into my side, causing me to whirl my head around to face a glaring Sakura-chan. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Uh, yes?"

Peering around me, Sakura-chan raises an eyebrow at the sight of Sasuke propped up against the wall with his fingers hooked over his lips, pulling his mouth down in an unseemly frown. "Get his fingers out of his mouth!" she snaps. "And pay attention!"

"But I need to hang his arms somewhere so that they won't fall into the mud!" I insist.

She sighs. "Just let them fall and seriously, listen up!"

I stick my lower lip out in a pout as I pull Sasuke's fingers out of his mouth and shove his jaw shut.

"Now," she says, "I should've thought of this before. The barrier corps will know exactly where we've exited which will allow them to focus their entire search efforts on just that area, but if there are multiple points of exit, then they'll have to spread their forces thin and might not be able to send a special sensory shinobi with every group. Not only will we have fewer shinobi chasing us, but they might not be quite as top notch or specialized!"

I stare at her for a second and blink, my eyes wide. "Uh, what?"

"Oh, geez." She shakes her head. "Never mind about the explanation. Just once we get outside the wall, I want you to create at least five, probably closer to ten, groups of shadow clones. Each group should have a you, a me, and a Sasuke, okay? Tell them to spread out _carefully_ around the wall. Nobody can raise the alarm until we're ready. In five minutes, we'll all make a dash for the barrier. Got it?"

It takes me a second to process her instruction, but eventually I nod.

"Good," she says, "Now, grab Sasuke and we're gonna get over the wall."

蛙

"Are they all ready?" Sakura-chan asks. Only a sliver of her face is visible in the glow of the pale moonlight, but it bounces sharply off her bright eyes, hardened with determination.

I close my eyes in concentration. It's very hard to sense your own shadow clone since you're already so used to yourself. It's difficult to notice the emotions. "They should be."

"Good. We're gonna go in about thirty seconds."

I nod and pull Sasuke's limp body a bit closer to me, taking in a deep preparatory breath. The warm air is saturated with the rich smell of the damp forest. The muggy air dulls the echoes of forest life, as well as the vague sounds of the slumbering city which drift over the wall to find us at its base.

Even though I can barely see her, I can feel Sakura-chan's arm pressing warmly against my own. Her breath cools the sweat on my palm, which rests against her one drawn up knee to help me support Sasuke's head. The slight fragrance of sweat, soap, and a hint of some sort of feminine perfume, wafts comfortably towards me. Her presence helps calm me with its comfort and familiarity.

"They all have the pepper, right?"

"Yep," I confirm. Sakura-chan gave each group of shadow clones a little bit of pepper that she brought with her to throw of the ninja dogs' scent. She wants all of our trails to look fairly similar so that our shinobi will have trouble choosing one to follow.

I wince at the phrase "our shinobi". I guess they really aren't ours anymore. We won't be a part of Konoha anymore. We'll be nukenin, missing-nin. I shudder to think of just how many I've tracked down and killed. What if any of them had a situation like me?

"You ready?" Sakura-chan asks.

I nod firmly, my muscles tensing. "Ready."

"Well, let's go."

Pulling Sasuke up fully into my arms, I glance down at his face, hidden in the darkness of my own shadow. This is for you. It's all for us. For Team 7.

My joints pop as they spring out of a crouch, Sakura-chan's arm still brushing against mine as we spring towards the trees.

**There's no turning back now, kid.**

_ There never was._

* * *

_A/N I'm so sorry for this chapter taking me so long! I've been super busy with sports and work, plus my computer broke so please forgive me! I'm going to be gone for a while, so the next chapter might take me a while too, but I'll try to get it done as soon as possible. Please be patient and thank you for sticking with it! I promise that I won't just stop writing because I absolutely hate it when authors do that. Please tell me what you think! I hope this chapter is up to par. Love you all and God bless!_


	5. V Sasuke

蛇**| Sasuke**

Darkness and pain. That's what I feel. The pain is far away, almost as if it were on another person's body, but I know that it's too close to be anyone's but my own. No one would ever be this near to me. People approach me, they die. They touch me, I get the pleasure of watching them die a bit closer up.

The darkness is my hatred, my contempt, my revenge. It's filled me to the brim and, with nowhere else to go, has seeped outside into my surroundings. I can see nothing but blackness. Does this mean that Konoha has been destroyed? That abominable light which corrupts the world finally eradicated?

At least you got to see it Nii-san, before your eyes turned to blackness inside my head, but I didn't see it. Or did I? I've pictured Konoha's demise so many times that imagination seems to mix with reality. I'm not sure which is real.

Did you see it, brother? Did your eyes see them scream as their limbs were severed from their bodies? Did you watch the horror on their faces as loved ones betrayed them in order to escape themselves? Did you gaze upon those who groveled for their lives, laying all of their vile gains at my feet, only to meet the same end as all the others? Perhaps Itachi's spirit took me over in order to watch the place that caused him so much pain die in a wreath of black flames, but…

I don't remember anything of my final victory. I've never imagined that part, content with the fact that my triumph, the _Uchiha's _triumph, was coming someday. I didn't want to ruin the moment with any fantasies. I simply wanted to savor the reality, but I remember nothing of Konoha being destroyed. I can't recall its light being fully extinguished. I remember it sputtering, dancing on the edge of death, but then… there were two other lights, much smaller but much brighter. They both came to me, contemptible words rolling over their tongues like rich honey. They tried to pull me out of this darkness, but I didn't let them. I won't let them.

A long whine is followed by a blurred stream of light being painted across my chest. My leaden heart pulses angrily. It's the two lights. It must be them. No matter what I extinguish, they are able to bring it back.

Sounds stumble through my head like incoherent shadows. Another small prick of pain, tiny, barely noticeable. My brain floods with what my mind tells me will take me back to the darkness. I believe it and allow myself to fade away, embracing the only thing I know.

蛇

Sound. There's sound. I don't know what it is, but somehow, it registers. A slit of light streams towards my pupils, barely blocked by the crust pulling on my eyelids. I allow my head to roll slightly to the side and a slice of pain shoots through my skull and down the top of my spine.

Resisting the urge to groan, I try to bring my hands up to my face to wipe the grit out of my eyes…but they won't come. Despite the numbness of my limbs, I can feel the pull on my wrists as they squirm against my back.

"He's awake!"

As if hit by a blast of ice, I freeze. No. Not that voice. Anyone…_anything_ but that voice. My eyes snap open to meet engulfing cerulean orbs, wide open and staring back at me with a sickening gleam in them.

"How ya feeling?"

"Baka." My eyes slide over to the new speaker to meet a less familiar face, wrapped in a _very_ familiar frame of pink. "Probably about how anyone would feel after being bounced around on your back for five hours. Admit it Naruto, you're not the smoothest ride."

His uneasy laugh grates on my panicked nerves as he scratches the back of his head. "Oh, heh, sorry 'bout that."

My mind quickly connects the very obvious dots. I attacked Konoha, I'm tied up, Naruto and Sakura are here, I must be there prisoner. I lost.

_I lost_. The dreaded words fill me with their overpower presence. I'm bursting to the seams with their connotations…I failed you, Nii-san. I'm not worthy of the name Uchiha. Konoha still exists. I'm weak. My hatred wasn't strong enough… I _lost._

This hadn't been an option. I'd never even considered the possibility. I wouldn't lose. My hatred was too strong. My darkness would overshadow their light. I would crush them. I would conquer. I _wouldn't_ lose.

But there's no denying it now. My defeat dance before my eyes like a haunting dream. There it is, prancing around in a ridiculous costume of orange and black with a pink accomplice, grinning like the idiot its own victory.

_No! _My mind rebels at the very thought of my being held captive by these two…things. This isn't over yet. I still live. Itachi's soul still watches through his eyes. He destroys through them, his revenge, and that of every other Uchiha, lives through me. I'm still alive. His eyes aren't dead so neither is the darkness that I can bring to Konoha.

I reach down into my core, reveling in the pleasurable feel of the rich, bubbling power pumping through me. Threading a long strand of chakra through my system, I direct it straight towards my eyes. My eyebrows knit into a fierce glare. I stare at my captors, one grinning in hesitant elation, the other biting her lip in veiled concern. Now they will know pain. Now they will know my hatred of them and all they stand for.

_Amaterasu._ The word rolls delightfully through my brain as the thought reaches down to shape my chakra. I can feel it barreling up through me, eager for the film to slide off my eyes as their chakra is laid bare to my sight, but…nothing happens. My vision remains disturbingly, and frustratingly normal.

I widen my eyes, trying to force my power through. It's there. The chakra dances just barely contained beneath my corneas. I can _feel_ it. It just…won't come out.

"Um, I know you're kinda surprised to be here, but you might want to hold your eyes in a bit. I think they're about to pop out of your skull."

"He's trying to use his sharingan, baka."

"Oh."

"It's no use, you know." The dirt grates beneath Sakura as she shifts around in her crouched position to face me. "Those are chakra suppressing chains you've got on there. And besides that you have a very lovely seal on your forehead."

As soon as her words register, I release my struggling chakra from my eyes and my mind starts to reel. How did this happen? And besides that, how am I going to get out of it? Did she say something about a seal?

"What seal?" I growl. I hadn't really been planning to speak, but my dominating need to know has overridden that plan.

"Is that what you were doing with his head?" Naruto asks, staring curiously at the space above my eyes as if something is suddenly going to grow out of my skull.

"Yeah, it's something that the Hyuga's worked with the medical unit on," Sakura says, a hint of professional pride sneaking into her voice.

"So what does it do?" Naruto asks, staring at me curiously. I fight down the urge to shoot my eyes up in a vain attempt to see my own forehead. Did she put some weird green, piece of Hyuga crap on me?

Sakura cocks one eyebrow at me and I quickly school my face to passiveness, hoping that she didn't notice my extremely uncomfortable expression. "Don't worry. I didn't mar your pretty face by putting some big X thing on it."

The back of my neck turns furiously hot. How dare she insult me like that?!

"So you think Sasuke's face is pretty?" Naruto's voice has an irritatingly hurt and accusatory ring to it.

Finally standing, Sakura clenches her fists angrily as she leers over him. "I never said that!"

"Uh, well," Naruto tries to burrow down into his cloak by hunching his shoulders. "Actually, you kinda just did."

"N-no. I didn't mean it like that!"

"Well, you said it."

"No, I-I just…"

"You never tell me my face is pretty." His voice is almost a mumble.

"That's because it isn't." She emphasizes every word through clenched teeth.

He droops his head further down into his collar with a whine. "Sakura-chan."

As they continue to argue, I simply stare at them in shock. This is like a movie reel of memories playing back in my head. It's like nothing's changed in the past almost ten years. This feels familiar. So familiar that it – no, not scares – _unnerves_ me. Along with this common picture of my two former teammates fighting, comes many other images. Images that I never _ever_ look back on.

In an almost panicked attempt to get rid of them, I shake my head furiously and suck in a sharp breath as a shot of pain rings through it. Both faces whip towards me, pulled taught with the tension that seemed to have temporarily retired as they argued.

I refuse to cram my eyes shut as pain continues to bounce off the sides of my skull. Instead, I try to stare them down, glaring at them with all my might as stars cloud my vision.

"Here." A callused, sweaty finger slides gently under my chin, lifting it up slightly. As my sight begins to clear, I stare wordlessly into Sakura's large eyes until I finally glance down at her hand. Two small, white capsules sit in her open palm.

"What's that?" I spit out. My brain immediately scrolls through my extensive knowledge of substances. What could the capsules be? If it's a rubber coated potassium cyanide pill, I'd have to crush it between my teeth for it to be effective, thereby causing quick brain death after my heart stops beating. It could be potassium chloride or Sea Wasp venom which would attack my heart, nervous system, and skin cells –

"Relax. It's just an analgesic."

Analgesic? I haven't heard of that kind of poison. Is there possibly a new type which Orochimaru never discovered?

Sakura watches my face for a moment then moves the pills closer. "You know, an analgesic, a painkiller."

Oh. Still, it could be a trick. I glance over at Naruto, his face fairly stoic with a hint of concern, the ever present grin barely visible in his eyes. No. They wouldn't kill me. They're going to try to "save me" or whatever new phrase Naruto has come up with. They don't understand the extent of my darkness. They don't know that there's no turning back for me, but I can use that to my advantage.

I nod tersely to Sakura and she slips the pills in my open mouth before providing me with a canteen swiped off her belt. The water slides thickly down my dry throat, still soothing and refreshing in spite of its warmth.

"We should get going again," Naruto says as he starts towards us.

Sakura nods slowly as she looks me over, eyebrows knit together. "Do you want to be sedated, Sasuke?"

Do I want to be sedated? Is that even a question? Instead of answering I simply glare at her.

She blows out a long, tired breath. "I'll take that as a no. Well then can we trust you to behave?"

Behave?! How dare she talk to me like a rowdy four year old! I simply deepen my glare. She can take it however she wants, but I refuse to stoop to the level of a child promising to be good. I'm not making any promises. I _will_ escape and kill them both for their trouble.

"He'll be okay, Sakura-chan." Naruto walks around behind me. Chains rattle as I feel them tug gently at my wrists. "He's still too weak to stand anyway."

"Hn." I jerk my face away so that my bangs cover my eyes. Shame filters through me as I begin to realize the full extent of my weakness. They don't even consider me much of a threat.

"Well, he can't be in that bad of shape is he sounds so normal," Sakura comments wryly, clearly amused that my signature grunt is still the same.

I bite back an angry reply, knowing that that would just make me look even more foolish.

"Come on, Sasuke." Naruto slides his hands underneath my arms and hoists me up. Though I can still feel the clasps of the chains around my wrists, they are no longer hooked together. I consider making my move now. The links of the chain have to be pretty heavy and a good blow to Naruto's head should at least knock him out. Sakura's still only a few feet in front of me. I could get her too.

What if I missed though? I can't really feel my legs. I probably can't stand, much less run or fight very well, especially without chakra.

Once Naruto has my on my feet, he dips down underneath one of my arms and plants his shoulder gently into my stomach, clearly planning to pull me up onto his shoulder.

No! I refuse to ride on Naruto like this! This is beyond humiliation! Every ounce of my pride refuses to be tossed over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

Without another thought, I swing my other arm around, watching the chain attached to my wrist arch towards Naruto's head. A hard yank on my wrist suddenly stops the motion as a black-gloved hand grasps the chain. A wave of dizziness washes over me as my head whirls fiercely to glare at Sakura. Her face is stern, meeting my gaze without so much as a flinch. "Don't – hurt – him," she hisses emphatically through clenched teeth.

"Huh?" Naruto sets me down. From the corner of my eye, I can see him watching our stare down worriedly.

"I think we should find another way to carry him." Sakura breaks eye contact first in order to look at Naruto, but in a way that doesn't allow me victory. I growl angrily under my breath.

He rubs the back of his head, scrunching his face in confusion. "Why?"

She crosses her arms grumpily. "Because I'm the medic and I said so."

He finally drops his arm and shrugs. "Whatever you say, Sakura-chan."

蛇

"Hey, hold it," Sakura whispers, jerking to an abrupt halt as we land on yet another tree branch. I grunt as I'm pulled in two different directions. Sakura holds my left arm in place over her shoulder while Naruto tries to yank me into another jump with my right arm, which is slung over his shoulder. Realizing that he's supposed to stop, Naruto has to pinwheel his free arm to keep from tumbling off the branch.

"Baka," Sakura grumbles.

He glares at her. "Hey, give a little warning before you stop like that, 'ttebayo!"

"Shh!" she hisses, "I think I heard something."

At that, he closes his eyes, brow furrowing in concentration. After a moment of silence he shakes his head. "There's no one, Sakura-chan."

She sighs in relief. "Sorry, I must be hearing things. I guess I'm a bit jumpy."

"It's fine." He shoots her a large grin.

I clench my jaw angrily, disgusted to be in the middle of this. Having them support me from either side is much less humiliating than being thrown over Naruto's shoulder, but it also means that I'm directly in between them and any sort of interaction they might have.

"Let's keep moving," she says and crouches in preparation for a jump. Both of my arms are yanked upward, pulling me along with them as we all spring off the tree. It's all I can do to land on me feet at the next branch. My body is weak. Sweat drips down the sides of my face from the effort, but I'm not out of breath. I'm just…tired. Drugged exhaustion.

Even though my mind has become far less groggy in the past couple hours, I still can't seem to understand a few things.

First of all, what are we doing out here? I think we're still in the forest of Hi no Kuni, the Land of Fire, but we've been traveling for hours and nothing looks even slightly familiar yet. I remember battling Naruto in the Valley of the End, so we should be pretty close to Konoha by now. We're also going the wrong direction. Instead of heading South-West, we're traveling South East.

Also, Naruto and Sakura are very tense. There isn't much to fear around here since Konoha and the rest of the Shinobi Alliance has pacified the majority of organized crime as well as nukenin, or rogue ninja. But these two act as if they're running from something. What would they have to run from in the Valley of the End, besides me? And apparently I'm a nullified threat at this point any way.

Where else could they be going except back to Konoha? Unless I was out longer than I thought and missed something, something big. Parts of my brain keep bringing up vague, foggy memories, painful ones that I've dismissed as nightmares.

"Two from the north, two from the north-west," Naruto murmurs, the quiet break in the reigning silence startling me out of my reverie.

Sakura nods. "How close?"

"Two hundred yards."

Two what? Two shinobi? Who're they talking about? I don't hear anyone. I may depend on my eyes a lot as a shinobi, but I still pride myself on the strength of all my other senses as well.

"Down there." Sakura points with her free hand to a large patch of bushes at the base of a tree about 30 yards in front of us.

As we land on the next tree branch and launch off again, instead of flying upwards, I'm yanked down towards the ground. Sakura and Naruto land silently while I purposely allow my feet to thump noisily on the forest floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sakura shoot me a look, but instead of anger it's more…worried?

We slip quietly into the foliage, at least they do. Defying my shinobi training, I rattle the branches as I push through them.

"Where now?" Sakura whispers as we crouch behind the bush, a large tree pressing roughly into my back.

Naruto doesn't have to answer her question. We can hear them now, just barely though. Whoever these shinobi are, they're not amateurs, but I don't think that they're trying to be absolutely silent. Obviously they don't feel threatened out here.

They have to be rogue ninja. Who else would Naruto and Sakura be hiding from? Or they at least have to be hostile to Konoha. I haven't heard of any hidden village conflicts lately, but it's a possibility.

My jaw clenches. Either way it's a chance for me to escape. For whatever reason, Naruto and Sakura clearly aren't up for a confrontation, even though I can tell that these shinobi are both _far_ below Naruto's level. Even Sakura's probably has a bit of an edge over them. A fight means confusion and distraction, both necessary to catch my captors off guard.

There they are, about to pass directly over us. I can only catch glimpses of them through the thick foliage of the trees, but their footsteps mark their position loud and clear.

"Oi!" I suddenly bark out.

Naruto and Sakura both curse as she slaps her hand over my mouth.

"Naruto!" she hisses, gripping me in a tight head lock. I struggle against her hold, wrapping my chains around my fists to pummel her side. I kick out at Naruto but my foot meets only the bush. He must've gone to deal with the two shinobi.

My fight against Sakura is useless. I could tell almost before it started. Even with the added weapon of the chain, my strikes are weak and clumsy as my still foggy mind struggles to control them.

Suddenly, I'm yanked out of Sakura's grip by the back of my collar. Finding the ground with my feet, I whirl around to plant my fist into my new attacker.

* * *

_A/N I'm so sorry! You guys had to wait way too long for this chapter and I realize that it's not my best writing either. I've been crazy busy, mostly with the love of my life (sports), plus I just had a really hard time writing this chapter. Please read and review and I promise the next one will be better and faster. Some people have been telling me that the story's getting a little boring and I agree. I'll try to fix that in the next chapter! Thank you so much to the few people who have reviewed. I appreciate everything (positive or negative). God bless you all!_


	6. VI Naruto

蛙 | **Naruto**

Sasuke's punch is slow, making it very easy for me to grab his fist as it heads towards my face. He snarls angrily and swings at me again with his free arm but I block that too. Now I'm holding both his wrists in one hand. He glares fiercely at me as he struggles against my grip, loose ends of his chains clinking against each other loudly.

Glancing over his shoulder, I see Sakura-chan picking herself up out of the dirt apparently unharmed except for a large bruise blooming on her cheek.

"You okay?" I ask her.

She nods with a tired sigh and begins to brush herself off.

Turning my attention back to Sasuke, I fix him with a stern glare. "What do you think you're doing? You could've got someone killed 'ttebayo! You could've gotten _yourself_ killed!"

"I won't die yet?" he spits out, grunting as he continues to try and free himself. "You're trying to drag me back to Konoha to be executed, but it won't happen! I'll escape and then you'll be sorry for what you've done. All of Konoha will be sorry!"

I simply blink at him. _Back to Konoha? To be executed?_

**Seems like someone's forgotten something.**

Ignoring Kurama, I cock my head at Sasuke. "Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" he growls.

"The-the…you know…in Konoha…they…" I fade off as I see a hint of confusion creep into Sasuke's eyes. Well this is awkward.

"So who did you think we were being attacked by?" Sakura-chan asks, pushing between the bush and Sasuke to get around to my side of him.

Flicking his eyes over towards the two unconscious shinobi lying on the forest floor, the shock is evident on his face, though it's quickly hidden behind his usual stoic expression. He momentarily stops struggling as he simply stares at the two men in green flak jackets and navy uniforms. The sun streaming through gaps in the forest canopy glints brightly off their forehead protectors, _Konoha_ forehead protectors.

I rub the back of my head with my free hand. _What do I do now? Do I tell him?_

**And make him hate Konoha more? Dumb move, kid.**

_But I can't just lie to him!_

**Just don't say anything.**

_That's almost the same thing._

**Not quite.**

_Yes it is!_

Blowing out a tired breath, I motion to Sakura-chan. "Maybe you should sedate him again for now."

At this, Sasuke begins to struggle again. As weak as he is, it still takes me two hands to hold him as his wrists easily slip back and forth against my sweaty palms. Without argument, Sakura-chan digs into her pouch to pull out a small container filled with syringes and little bottles.

"Come on, Sasuke," I grunt as I block a kick towards my groin with my shin. "This is the best thing for all of us right now."

"You're gonna have to hold him more still than that."

I glare at Sakura-chan who's watching us with one eyebrow cocked, hand on her hip, and holding a ready syringe. "You wanna try?" I ask.

She wiggles the hand holding the syringe meaningfully. "I'm the medic, remember? Now I need you to get him to stop wriggling."

The word wriggling to describe Sasuke almost makes me smirk. Grabbing him in a head lock, I spin him around and pull him against me to hold one arm around his head and the other around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. He continues to struggle, but his upper half is pretty still now. After Sakura-chan sticks the needle in his arm and pushes the plunger, his movements begin to steadily weaken.

As soon as he's limp in my arms, I drag him out of the bush and gently lower him into the grass. Sakura-chan is already examining the two Konoha shinobi I knocked out, carefully rolling them over onto their backs to check their injuries.

I stare at them solemnly. I tried to be gentle, well, as gentle as you can be when you have to knock someone out. The sensation of one of their jaws crunching beneath my fist causes a shiver to crackle down my spine. I rub my neck tiredly. I hate this. Absolutely hate it.

"Are they okay?" I ask Sakura-chan quietly.

"I think so," she says as she places her hands over one of their chests. Palms glowing green with chakra, she closes her eyes and moves her hands slowly up to the shinobi's head. "Bad concussion, fractured jaw, but those are easy fixes."

I sigh in relief. "Who are they?"

Opening her eyes, she looks back at me with a shrug. "I don't know."

Throwing a quick glance over my shoulder at Sasuke, who appears to be well and truly out, I shove my hands in my pockets and walk over to crouch beside the unknown shinobi. Recognizing the thin, angular face, and short, curly brown hair shoved up by his forehead protector, I blow out a long breath. "I think his name is Nori. I worked with his team once during the war. He's a genjutsu specialist."

"So I guess their plan was to knock us out with genjutsu." Sakura-chan snorts humorlessly. "Might've worked if you'd been slower."

I don't reply and simply stare at the two men sadly. The other one looks sort of familiar. Not someone I know but maybe I've seen him around town. "Whoever thought that one day we'd be knocking out our own men?"

Sakura-chan positions Nori more comfortably before she crawls over to the other one. "Well, I'll fix them up and then hide and keep an eye on them until they wake up. You get Sasuke out of here and then find me once they've left."

"Then they'll go back and tell the elders where we're heading."

"Guess so."

蛙

Sasuke's chest rises and falls normally, his breath stirring the long bangs draped over his face. His limp body is propped up against the large boulder I'm leaning against, head lolling unceremoniously to the side. I tug at my collar uncomfortably, silently cursing the heat. Even in the shade, the humidity encloses the warmth like a stifling blanket.

The shinobi are still unconscious. I can tell from their neutral feelings and idle chakra. Sakura-chan is hiding nearby as promised, determination and sadness rolling off her in waves. I cringe as the full brunt of it hits me. Normally I'm able to suppress my sensory abilities, made possible by Kurama, but right now, on full alert, there's nothing I can do but sit here and take it.

**Why are you getting so worked up, kid? You didn't expect her to be exactly happy about this situation, did you?**

_Knowing and feeling are two different things. _

**You have too much empathy.**

_Better than ending up like Sasuke who has no empathy at all. Or others I could mention…_

**I'm just realistic, kid. **

_Well, her pain feels pretty real to me._

**That's because you're making it yours. You're like a masochist. You embrace the sorrows of others. I think you almost enjoy it.**

_What?! I do not!_

**I'm just saying, kid. You can't take everything on yourself. People are gonna get hurt and they're gonna have feelings. That doesn't mean that they have to be yours.**

I sigh and shake my head with a small smile. We've had this conversation before. _I gave a vow, many vows actually, to take on the hatred of the world. How can I do that if I'm not willing to understand their pain?_

** I have a feeling that this isn't about Sakura anymore.**

I grin. _You're pretty smart for an old fox._

**Hn.**

My smile quickly fades as three other sets of emotions enter my radar. They're coming fast and are headed directly for Sakura-chan. With a quiet curse, I grab Sasuke's arm and yank him over my shoulder as I stand. My arm tucked around the back of his knees, I take off into the trees, the rushing air running its fingers through my hair to cool my sweat-soaked scalp.

As we approach each other, I start to sense the similar conflict of emotions raging inside the oncoming shinobi. Sadness, worry, and hurt battles determination and even a little bit of anger. Confusion reigns with just an underlying hint of understanding. Duty struggles with loyalty, honor with devotion. I cram my eyes shut, desperately wanting to sever my connection with them. I know these three and I've hurt them…badly.

The regret that's been seeping into the back of my mind, ever since I came up with the notion of helping Sasuke escape, now floods my senses full force. It drops through my seemingly empty heart down deep into my gut where it stays like a heavy tumor, eating me from the inside out, pulling me down into a dark pit from which there is no escape.

My eyes snap open just to see the hint of sunlight filtering through the canopy of leaves. I can't fall into that pit. If I do I'll become like Sasuke, causing everyone I know endless pain and sorrow and passing it on for generations to come. My job is to stop it from spreading here and now, to stop the cycle of endless suffering and hatred, even if it takes everything I have. As long as it ends with me.

Trying to close off my emotions for just little bit, I focus all of my concentration on strict calculations, something I've never been very good at. I don't want to intercept them. I shouldn't have to if I make it to Sakura-chan first. No more conflict. That's it. I've had enough for one day. It made me almost sick to knock those two out earlier.

_Nori_. His name runs through my mind almost like an accusation. _You knocked Nori out_. I shake my head furiously. I don't want to remember his name, or who he is, and especially not where he's from. He's another faceless shinobi. I've killed plenty up until now, nameless ones, _evil_ ones. Nori wasn't evil, but I didn't actually kill him either. I wasn't even close.

**Stop arguing with yourself, kid. You're giving me a headache.**

A bit startled since I didn't realize I was allowing my thoughts to seep through my connection to Kurama, I hurriedly reign them in, shoving them in a small corner of my mind, and slamming the door shut on them.

Honing in on Sakura-chan's emotional signal, I pick up my pace, heading directly for her hiding spot. As I round one final tree, my eyes immediately come to rest on the two unconscious men lying on the forest floor and flick away just as quickly.

Holding Sasuke's body a bit tighter, I drop down behind the bush where I know Sakura-chan is hiding.

"Sak – " I duck and a blade flashes over my head.

"Naruto! Don't startle me like that!" Sakura-chan quickly pulls back her kunai, still holding it in a defensive position.

"Shh!" I use my free hand to grab her elbow and start to stand, trying to pull her up with me.

Shaking me off she remains at a crouch. "What're you doing? I thought I was supposed to wait here to – "

"Change of plans," I whisper, grasping her arm once again. "A squad of Konoha are headed this way. They'll be here any minute."

Sakura-chan allows me to help her stand this time, but bites her lip worriedly as she glances over at the two men she's been watching over. "But I want to make sure that – "

"They'll be fine," I insist. I have to get her out of here. I don't want her to see who's chasing us. "The other shinobi are heading right this way. I'll monitor their emotions to make sure they find Nori and his teammate."

Her large eyes dart back and forth between me and the two men for a moment for nodding slowly. I give her an encouraging smile before shooting chakra down into my legs to spring up into the trees. The rush of energy through my body reiterates my urgency to escape and I bolt off into the forest, desperate to get away from any sort of confrontation and take Sakura-chan along with me.

We travel in silence for a few moments. Sakura-chan's aura of emotions along with her softly tapping footsteps against the branches are only a few yards behind me.

The three man squad continues on their path, unknowingly heading directly for their fallen comrades. As I feel the two groups meet, three sets of emotions flare up all at once, each heading in their own slightly different direction. Two are slightly more angry while for one, the sorrow simply deepens.

"Did they find them?" Sakura-chan asks softly from behind me.

I nod, shifting Sasuke's weight a little bit to sit more comfortably on my shoulders. "Yeah, they did."

A few moments of silence.

"Who were they? The squad of Konoha shinobi?"

I eyebrows knit together sadly. Though Sakura-chan can't see my pained expression, I'm sure she notices the stiffening of my shoulders.

"Naruto, do we know them?"

I glare determinedly ahead, my gaze narrowing in on the next branch in front of me as the world passes by at a blur in my peripherals. "They're from Konoha. I'm sure we've seen them around."

"Oh," Sakura-chan murmurs, not pressing the matter.

I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I can't tell you who it is. I can't tell you that your best friend is chasing you. I can't tell you that it's Ino.

蛙

"I think we should circle around through Kawa no Kuni, the Land of Rivers." Sakura-chan slices a curve through the dirt with a stick, scattering clumps of sand across the crude map is drawn out on the ground in front of where she crouches across from me. Even in the shade of the trees, the hot damp of the forest has pasted her bangs to her head. She swipes at her forehead irritably with the back of her dirty hand, leaving a streak of sweaty dirt behind. "We could even go as far as Kaze no Kuni, the Land of Wind."

I advert my eyes from Sakura-chan's and glance over at Sasuke, who's still unconscious and propped up against a tree. "I'm not sure I want to do that."

I hear her sigh. "You know we can't head towards Nami no Kuni anymore to ask for Tazuna-san's help. As soon as our men return to Konoha and report which direction we were heading, someone will guess. We need a new plan and I think this is the best one."

Tracing circles aimlessly in the dirt next to my foot, I rest my chin on top of my propped up knee. "Can't we just hide around here for a while? I mean, this is a big country. I don't think they'll find us if we stay well hidden."

"You know that we can't do that! They probably already have expert trackers after us and now they know what area we're in!"

I continue to stare at the ground next to my foot. The calluses on my fingertips catch lightly against the grainy dirt as I drag them over and over again through abstract patterns. Even though I suppressed my sense of them hours ago, the emotions of our Konoha comrades are still rolling through my mind. I can't do that to anyone else. I can't.

"Naruto." A small hand reaches out to cover mine and hold it still. "Look at me." Sakura-chan's voice is now coaxingly gentle. Raising my eyes to meet hers, I find myself comforted by their familiar beauty, though their glaze of worry pricks at my heart. "Tell me what's wrong."

I snort, finding humor in her statement. What's wrong? I guess everything's wrong if you think about it. We've abandoned our village because they were going to execute our teammate who has slaughtered our friends and hates our guts. Now we're on the run from our comrades, considered out-laws, and forced to fight those we would normally die to protect. Maybe a better question is what _isn't_ wrong.

"If we cross through Kaze no Kuni, we'll be very close to Sunagakure. Konoha will probably ask them for help and I don't want to put Gaara in the position of having to hunt me down. It's not fair to him."

Sakura-chan nods in understanding, giving my hand a light squeeze. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that. The elders won't be quick to admit that their village hero has become a nukenin, and I think our friends will fight just as hard to keep anyone else from joining the search." A wry smile slides onto her face. "They want to catch us themselves to bring us back for our own good."

I grin at her. "But we can't let that happen!"

She laughs, though it's a bit strained, and finally removes her hand from mine. "Yeah, I guess not." As her smile beings to fade, she looks hesitantly at me and then quickly down at the hands now clasped in her lap. "Naruto, do you think they hate us?"

My eyebrows snap together in concern and confusion. "Who?"

"Our friends. Lee-san, Ino, Shikamaru, Shino, Choji, all of them. Will they…hate us for what we've done?"

I swallow painfully before pushing the memory of their feelings to the back of my mind. "Sakura-chan," I force a teasingly scolding tone to my voice. "You've got to have more faith in our friends! They care about us just as much as we care about Sasuke. They want us back just as much as we've wanted him back, 'ttebayo!"

She glances up to see my broad grin and tries to smile back. "What about Tsunade-sama?"

I know that my face doesn't appear as certain as before, but I try to keep up my smile anyway. "She cares about us just as much as they do! I know we've kinda put her in an awkward spot, but hey, it's not like she's supposed to be trying to kill us, just find us."

Giving up on any sort of façade of cheerfulness, Sakura-chan drops her head, letting her shoulders slump. "I-I just feel like I've failed her." The adorable little crack in her voice is one that I've become accustomed to. It means that she's holding back tears and I'm supposed to help her.

Scooting over next to her, I gently place my arm around her shoulders and squeeze lightly. It's funny how natural this feels, this back and forth game of comfort. The roll of comforter and comforted can change in an instant, the smooth transition signifying years of practice.

As she takes deep, shuddering breaths, I rest my cheek against her hair, the scent of sweat masked by an overpowering feminine shampoo. Closing my eyes, I take in a deep breath, enjoying the very girly smell. It's a rare thing that I'm this close to a girl anymore and Sakura-chan always uses something scentless on missions to make it harder to track her. I guess she forgot last night. I'm glad she did.

"You're enjoying this a little too much."

My eyes snap open at Sakura-chan's dry tone and I quickly release her to crawl a few feet away. Danger alert! Danger alert!

"Uh, you feeling better now?" I ask, as I sit in the dirt, sheepishly rubbing the back of my head.

She gives a small laugh and nods. I inwardly sigh in relief. That's the all clear signal. If she was really mad, she'd have smashed in either my head or the ground by now, whichever was closer. "So back to what we were discussing before."

"Well actually, I think there's something else we need to talk about..." I hesitate.

Sakura-chan cocks her head, her green eyes studying me curiously. "Yeah?" she prods.

"Well, Sasuke doesn't really seem to remember what happened back in Konoha." I finger the edge of my collar uncomfortably. "Do we tell him?"

Sakura-chan bites her lip, sad eyes shifting over my shoulder to Sasuke and then back to me. "I don't know."

I nod. "I mean he's still our friend, though. Don't we kinda owe it to him?"

Her eyes flash momentarily, the fleeting emotion quickly hidden by hesitancy. "I-I'm not really sure." After staring at Sasuke for a couple more seconds, she abruptly spins around and begins recreating her map.

My eyes study her form sadly – shoulders hunched, head down, veins popping out of a hand with white knuckles as she grasps her stick so tightly that I'm expecting it to snap any second.

She hid it well, but her face betrayed her thoughts for just a moment: he abandoned us and put us through hell…we don't owe Sasuke anything.

She still hasn't let go. She's struggling with the past and sees no promise in the future. She wonders if she'd be here if I wasn't so head-strong. She can't help but hate Sasuke at least a little bit and at the same time, she hates herself for it.

Sure enough, her stick snaps.

* * *

_A/N Hey guys! Well, it's longer and I finished it in much better time:)__ Hope you enjoyed it! Again, I'm going to __try__ to keep the updates coming as fast as I can, but I'm crazy busy so please be patient. Also…REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I promise you, if you want faster updates, reviews really do help! They give me inspiration and a little bit of fire to keep it up. Thanks so much to those of you who did review and I'm trying to take all of your comments and concerns into consideration. I'm sorry, I can't really make any promises that your suggestions will show up. Just have to see which way the ball rolls. Love you guys and God bless!_


	7. VII Sakura

**カ****ツ ****Sakura**

"I'm getting hungry," Naruto grumbles, looking sadly down at the pack in his lap.

"You're always hungry," I tell him. "And besides, we just ate."

"Once you eat enough rice-balls, they don't count as food anymore."

I give a long, exasperated sigh, but secretly I agree with him. After days of hiding out with nothing else to eat, the sticky globs of grain just don't fill my hollow stomach anymore. Besides, white rice isn't the best source of nutrients and we don't have much else in our packs. We're gonna need something else soon, something nutritious full of good carbohydrates and proteins and…

"Ramen!" Naruto's loud groan startles me out of my thoughts. "My love! How I miss you!"

I slap an embarrassed hand over my face. You've got to be kidding me! We're in a very desperate situation right now and all he can think about is ramen?! If he was closer, I'd hit him across the back of the head, but I'm too tired to make the effort right now.

Instead, I close my eyes and lean my head against the tree at my back with a slightly painful thud. Four days. How could only four days have passed by? It feels like we've been running forever. We finally made it into Kawa no Kuni, the Land of Rivers. We're much safer here considering that Konoha can't easily send their shinobi into a country without permission and it's a pretty safe gamble that the elders will keep our desertion quiet. Naruto's a legend and I'm fairly well-known myself.

Cracking one eyelid open, I see Naruto sitting in the dirt, digging half-heartedly through his pack. His dirty, yellow hair is matted with dust and sweat, creating what looks like an ugly little halo as the early afternoon sun bounces off of it. Orange clothes streaked with mud and bits of leaves, every inch of skin caked in dirt, he looks absolutely as disgusting as I feel. My gaze slides slowly over to Sasuke, propped up against a tree, still unconscious as he has been for the past few days. Despite being peppered with dirt, he appears fairly clean. Little sweat, no mud, a few crusting of dry leaves in his hair. He looks so peaceful, which is weird and honestly kind of creeping me out. He just doesn't look himself without some sort of glare on his face.

To my relief, Naruto's asked me to keep Sasuke sedated until he figures out how to tell him what his memory seems to be missing. I'm running out of sedatives though, I'm gonna need more. I know we have to find some sort of town soon, but…

Watching Naruto pout childishly as he finds nothing tasty in his pack, I smile fondly at him. Looking at him now, most people would never guess that this was the shinobi who saved the world. Power has anything but gone to his head, though occasionally I feel it my duty to keep him humble. He's not proud of his ability as much as the hard work that went into it and the protection he's able to provide for those he loves. Even if his abilities have matured, he certainly hasn't. Somehow I don't think he'll ever grow up.

My smile drops suddenly. He has grown up though, in his own way. I've seen it, the sadness, the sorrow, the loneliness, the regret, and stuck with only me to comfort him. I'm a sorry excuse for the emotional strength he needs. Half the time he ends up holding me when it's supposed to be the other way around. Naruto always says that I pull him through the hard times, but I feel like I've come up short. He needs someone who's strong, stable, steadfast, and unconditionally caring. He had that, but then he lost it…

"Sakura-chan." Naruto crosses his arms determinedly across his chest. "We need more supplies."

I nod slowly. "I know. I think I can find a small town if I head north. Something off the map, like – "

"No," Naruto shakes his head emphatically. "I'll go."

Sitting up straight, I glare at him. "Oh, no you're won't. You're too well-known."

"Most people don't know exactly what I look like. I'm not really the stand out type."

I roll my eyes. "Not the stand out type, huh?"

"Hey! I can blend in when I want to, 'ttebayo!" He gives an aggravated huff, turning his nose up at me. "Besides, I was talking about looks. Pink hair isn't common!"

"Neither is Uzumaki Naruto!" I shoot back. "You're gonna be recognized!"

He matches my glare with his. "You're staying here."

"No I'm not!"

"Well someone has to!"

"And it's not going to be me!"

"Oh, yes it is!"

"Or what?"

"Or…or…ah!" Naruto growls, ripping a frustrated hand through his hair. "Sakura-chan you can be so difficult sometimes!"

I cross my arms, knitting my eyebrows determinedly. Usually Naruto isn't so argumentative. He's good at bowing to my better judgment, but I suppose this is somewhat of a different situation.

Grabbing his head in both hands, Naruto ducks his face into his collar, mumbling quietly to himself. When he finally looks up at me, the glare has dropped off his face, leaving a look of pure desperation. "Sakura-chan, please."

A bit unnerved as well as startled by this sudden change, I let my arms fall limply into my lap as the anger easily slides off of me. "But why?"

"It's just better. Trust me. Please." His large blue eyes peruse my face sadly. I finally drop my own gaze, unable to meet his troubled stare.

With a last sigh, I finally give in. "If you think it's best." He gives his own sigh of relief. Glancing over him, I jab my finger towards him. "As long as you lose the orange clothes."

Looking down at himself, the childish pout returns to Naruto's face. "But I like them!"

I almost smile at the sight of him in that ridiculous orange jumpsuit. It's just like when we were teenagers. He hasn't worn it for years. I wonder what made him decide to bring it on this little desertion escapade of ours. "Either lose the clothes or stay here. It's your choice."

"Sakura-chan." He grins broadly at me. "You want me to strip down in front of you?"

"Ew!" I cram my eyes shut and slam my palms over my ears. "Don't you dare!"

**カ****ツ**

"There," I say, firmly tugging down the edge of his t-shirt. "Now you look normal."

Naruto makes a face at his clothes, typical navy shinobi pants along with his usual dark green undershirt. Thankfully he packed his other set of shinobi attire which consists of the Konoha jōnin uniform. Honestly I'm surprised. It would be just like him to leave it behind.

"It doesn't really say 'me'," he pouts.

I give him a dead-pan look. "It's not supposed to say 'you,' baka! That's the point!"

He shrugs. I sigh in exasperation and lean over to pick up his pack, the strap providing little resistance against my fingers as I lift and hand it to him. All the weapons have been stowed in my pack, making his that much lighter. It's a calculated risk, but a fairly safe one. If seen, the weapons would be a dead giveaway and little of Naruto's fighting style requires them. Because I'm making him leave his other shinobi gear behind, I've given him my tantō, the long dagger usually strapped over my shinobi pouch. It's a more common weapon than shuriken and kunai and doesn't scream "shinobi" quite so loudly. He looks like a typical traveler with a little protection belted to his hip.

"Now what is your name?" I ask as he swings the pack over his shoulders.

His eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. "Uzumaki Naruto."

I slap a hand to my face. "No, baka, your _fake_ name!"

"Oh! Kato Hiraku."

"And you're from?"

"Yu no Kuni, the Land of Hot Water."

"Traveling to?"

"Sunagakure."

"For?"

His eyes dart up, squinting towards the sky as his forehead wrinkles in concentration. "Uh…"

I cross my arms irritably. "To find work as a carpenter! And if they happen to offer you work in whatever town you find?"

"I say that I have family in Suna and they're expecting me!" He gives me a beaming smile, proud of his memory work.

I shake my head. How could he remember that and not that he's supposed to be finding work? I'll never understand how his brain works.

"Well, I guess you're good to go," I tell him, looking up to meet his large, cerulean eyes. "Be careful. If you don't find anything, just come back and we'll move on together."

He nods firmly giving me a broad grin, his eyes squinting into small, happy slits as they always do when he smiles. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll be back early morning at the latest, 'ttebayo!"

I smile back at him. "You better."

He chuckles softly before hooking his thumbs under the straps of his pack and turning his back on me. He hesitates briefly before rolling his shoulders back. When he finally speaks again, his voice is grave. "Keep Sasuke safe, but don't fight them if they come." With that he flies up into the trees, dirt spitting out from the soles of his shoes as he goes.

Staring at his back as it disappears into the branches, I bite my lip worriedly. "I don't care if there's nothing here to come back to," I whisper. "Just come back."

_Don't fight them if they come_. What could he have possibly meant by that? Don't fight who? Konoha? Why wouldn't I?

Shrugging off Naruto's words as just his usual foolishness, I glance up at the sky. The pure, azure blue, still lit by the glaring afternoon sun, suddenly feels dark enough to match the heavy weight in my chest. My sunlight just flew away, but he'll be back in the morning. He better be.

**カ****ツ**

Jabbing my kunai viciously into the ground, I try to force my focus on the small clods of dirt spitting up around the blade.

Last night my worry was a tiny, contained ball buried deep inside my gut. As darkness came and time wore on, the apprehension started to leak out, poisoning my sleep in small traces. I would wake up from restless dreams thinking I heard returning footsteps or someone calling my name. When the sun rose this morning, the fear started to flow into my veins, slowly at first, but soon picking up speed. Now the panic courses through my entire system.

I stab the ground harder. I need to take my emotions out on something.

It's early afternoon. Naruto's been gone 24 hours. He was supposed to be back late last night or early this morning.

If anyone could get sidetracked, it's Naruto. He's a people person. He loves to talk. He's somewhat irresponsible and very forgetful. He's determined. If he didn't find a village nearby, he wouldn't give up. He'd search further.

I cram all of these facts into my head, running them by my mind one after another, but they do nothing to ebb the rushing tide of terror because another, much stronger and more alarming string of thoughts gallivants through my brain so much easier. The elders will stop at nothing to get us. By now they've seen that Naruto won't be manipulated. He's a threat, one that they'll want to eliminate. They won't stop their search at the border simply because it would be bad politics to send fighters into a friendly country without permission. They'll send shinobi in after us and it won't be regular squads of jōnin, some of which include our friends. These will be ANBU, trained killers with specific orders of what to do with us. When they attack, it will be silent and deadly. Naruto could be staring down at a blade protruding through his chest before he knows what's going on.

A metallic rattling startles me. I whip my head up to stare wide-eyed at the unconscious Sasuke still slumped against a tree. A small haze of dust is settling around one chained wrist. It must've fallen out of his lap and onto the ground.

I almost forgot about him. He hasn't had any more sedatives in quite a while. I'm running out. Now he's moved which means that he's probably waking up. His sleep might be natural now rather than artificial.

My first thought is an increase in panic. I need to sedate him again! I don't want him to wake up! I'm not ready! I need Naruto here when I face him.

Naruto. Ice suddenly chills my veins. My hand pauses in mid-air on its way down to stab the kunai into the ground once again. If Naruto doesn't come back it will be all Sasuke's fault and there he is, sleeping peacefully without a care in the world, body relaxed, jaw slack, face covered by drooping bangs.

My eyebrows pinch into a glare. He doesn't deserve this. He's not allowed to peacefully sit this out while the world falls apart around him!

A red-hot rush of anger streams through my body, unfreezing me and sparking energy into my veins. Gripping my kunai tightly, I push myself to my feet, all muscles clenched tightly. I head towards him slowly, my eyes narrowed on the dappled pattern of sunlight over his pale, smooth face. I keep walking until I'm only a couple feet from him, my feet planted on either side of his stretched-out legs.

Bending down, I draw back my arm and deliver a resounding slap across his face. His head snaps to one side and hits the tree with a satisfying thud. Straightening again and crossing my arms over my chest, I watch him jump as his eyes spring open. His hands grip the ground in alarm for a moment, tendons popping from his scarred skin. Wide eyes turn towards me, betraying surprise and confusion as their hollow depths take in my face, but it quickly disappears as a hood of exhaustion and pain drop back over them. Loosely parted lips take a tight shape as his whole face develops into a snarl.

As I stare down at him, fully awake and fully conscious, a bit of the fire drains out of me. I'm not really sure what to do now. Did I have a plan beyond waking him up?

Pressing my lips tightly together, I content myself with glaring down at him, waiting for him to say the first word. Years ago this probably wouldn't have worked, but I don't know him anymore. He isn't the same boy who left Konoha all those years ago.

Apparently not everything can change in a decade. The world can still turn round. Sasuke says nothing. I'm a patient person, but I can't take this stare down. I'm going to look away if someone doesn't say something soon and I _can't_ look away. I can't lose this battle, no matter how small it is.

The only even slightly logical sentence that pops into my head regards location, so I take it. "We're close to the border of – "

A flash of movement is followed by a sharp, bruising pain hitting the bones in my knee. I feel my balance crumple beneath me as one of my legs is yanked to the side. Uncrossing my arms to catch myself, I land hard on my hands and knees. My peripherals catch the sight of a chain swinging towards the side of my head and I duck, feeling the slight rush of wind through my sweaty hair as it passes over my head.

Sasuke is above me now, drawing the hand that swung the chain back to brace it on his knee as he starts to stand, the empty look in his eyes proof of his dizziness. Glancing down at the length of chain still wrapped around my knee, I grab it and pull, yanking him down to the ground with a thud and small cloud of dust. Scrambling to my feet, I basically fling myself on top of him, grappling for his other hand as he struggles beneath me, swinging his one free chain wildly. Finally, I'm able to pin his wrist to the ground before twisting it up behind him.

Holding the two lengths of chain in one hand so his wrists are cinched together, I slam my other hand down on his shoulder as I continue to sit on top of him. Stupid! How could I be so stupid to wake him up without securing the chains around the tree?! I push down harder as his body jerks wildly beneath me. He's too weak to get away from me right now. He _has_ to know that. Those sedatives do quite a number on your physical _and_ mental processes though. He'll be a bit out of it for a while as well as sore from the beatings on top of his fight with Naruto.

"Calm down!" I order harshly as he continues to struggle. "You know you're not gonna get away so you might as well save your energy!" Huffing angrily, I release his shoulder and use my free hand to find the ends of the chain and the lock dangling loosely from one of the links. I grab it and quickly attach it to the shackles on his wrists before locking it with my chakra. As soon as I hear the soft click inside the mechanism, I release his arms and sit back, satisfied to watch him struggle helplessly with his now secured wrists.

Slowly, his movements begin to weaken until finally he falls limp in the dust, his head turned to the side so that he can glare up at me with one dark eye.

"You won't break that lock so easily," I inform him.

He replies by straining against the shackles once again, but only for a moment. His ribcage expands and compresses rapidly as he breathes heavy, angry breaths through his nose. The edge of his lip curls up in a snarl. "What do you want?"

I cross my arms, glaring fiercely at him since I can think of no other reply. Again, I'm stuck. Why did I wake him up? There's no purpose in it, unless I just want to gloat. But what gloating powers do I really have? We may have him prisoner, but we've given up everything to do it.

"Are you and Naruto just gonna keep me chained up here like some pet? The new mascot of Team 7?" he growls, tendons straining in his neck as he lifts his head up slightly. "Tell that filthy Konoha coward to unchain me. Then we'll have a real fight! I'll show him what true power is!"

Sasuke stops talking as my hand shoots out to slam his head against the ground. "Don't you dare call Naruto a coward!" I dig my nails into his thick wad of hair, pulling against the roots, hoping that it hurts. "He's out there right now, risking his life for your sorry skin to get supplies. You have no right! No right at all!" I bite my lip as tears sting the corners of my eyes. "I-I don't even know if he's coming back."

Sasuke stares blankly ahead for a moment, before his one visible eye lights up. His mouth stretches into a slow, sickly grin until it bursts open with a bolt of crazed laughter.

His laugh sends a chill up my spine which turns to pure rage as soon as it hits my brain. How dare he! "What do you have to laugh about?!" I yank harder on his hair.

It seems to have no affect on him. "He didn't go for me." His mirth subsides to a chuckle for a few moments. "Why would he? If he was doing it for me he would've stayed here himself to protect me since he's the strongest and sent the expendable one to get supplies." Another loud series of harsh laughs rings through the air. "He's doing it for you! It's all because of you that he might not come back!"

My eyes widen. No. It's not my fault. Naruto wanted to go for Sasuke. It's all his fault! He's the reason I'm here and Naruto's not. I-It was him!

The demented laughter rings through my ears, grating on my last hold to sanity. With trembling, desperate fingers, I reach back to dig frantically through my shinobi pouch. As I search, I stare horrified down at the raving face still cackling into the dirt, eyes squeezed closed with the strength of his laughter. Finally recognizing the feel of my small box of syringes, I flip the lid open with my nail and drag out what I know is my last filled syringe. Ripping the cap off with my teeth, I plunge the needle into Sasuke's arm and push the plunger. He doesn't seem to notice as laughs continue to gurgle out of him, slowing until he goes completely limp. Tossing the empty syringe to the side, I shove myself off of him and scramble to my feet. Breathing heavily as I stand over him, panic races through my mind.

Is what Sasuke said true? Is it my fault? If Naruto never returns, will I be to blame?

_Sakura-chan, please. It's just better. Trust me. __Keep Sasuke safe, but don't fight them if they come. _

I clench my trembling fists, narrowing my wide eyes to glare down at Sasuke. He might be right. And I hate him for it.

**カ****ツ**

The sound of a forest night sinks into my senses. It's flooding my pores, becoming a part of me almost. I've been on very few solo missions and never one quite like this, one where I know that no cheerful group of comrades will be waiting for me when I return home, one where I've no home to return to. I've never felt so alone. Somehow facing this night without another human soul, friend or foe, seems to be pulling me to the edge of my sanity.

But there is another human soul. I glance towards the dark figure across from me, pale skin not hidden by dark bangs made even paler by moonlight. His hair glows eerily blue in the faint illumination of the night which glints dimly off the chains enclosing his wrists and pooled at his sides like snakes.

Human soul. Is that really the right way to describe Sasuke? Is he even human anymore? The realization I came to about Team 7 in Konoha seems so distant now, just like the village itself. Can our friendships still be mended when so much has worked to tear it apart? There's nothing left of our team anymore besides a murderous traitor, an angry and lost weakling, and the broken savior of the world. I'm not sure any of us can really be put back together again.

Why are we here? What are we _really_ doing out here? Naruto and I both had a chance to mend back in Konoha, to put together some sort of facsimile of living and get on with our lives. Now we've thrown it all away. And for what?

Darkness. That's who, no, _what_ he is now. Our friend isn't down there anymore. Naruto said he was and I believed him but it just isn't true. There's nothing, nothing but hatred left inside that shell of our teammate.

I curl tighter into myself, glancing off the sliver of white light shining off the metal blade next to my foot. I could do it. I could kill him right now and be done with it, put us all out of our misery. Naruto would believe me that some Konoha shinobi came and finished the job. We could go home, beg the elders for forgiveness. They'd let us off. The villagers love Naruto too much.

I painfully uncurl one of my hands from around my calf. My knees are stiff from being clutched to my chest, almost like an imaginary pressure in building inside of them. They feel like they'll explode soon if I don't straighten and pop them. The thick dampness of the air coats my fingers in stark contrast to the hardness of the joints inside. They creak as I flex them gently and reach slowly towards my side to cover the bright reflection from the kunai.

I could do it. I could finish all of it.

My fingers curl loosely around the handle of the blade, it's shape familiar and comforting in my palm. Why shouldn't I? I know it would break Naruto's heart, but no more than any of the other deaths he's experienced. It would set the healing process back a few years, but in the end he'd be better off. We both would.

My hand hardens into a fist around the kunai as memory strikes me of another time I resolved to kill Sasuke. I couldn't do it then. Why not? Was I just that weak?

_Friendship_. Naruto's voice shoots through my mind, not accusing, but gently and understanding.

Cramming my eyes shut, I try to block out his voice and instead flood my mind with memories of war, bloodshed, hurt, and heartache, all caused by that sorry piece of crap over there. Lifting my chin off the top of my knees, my eyes snap open, honing in on the dark figure slumped against a tree. He's cloaked in blackness. How appropriately symbolic. He welcomed the darkness with open arms and now he's drowning in it. All I'm going to do is put him out of his misery.

As I grip the blade even tighter, muscles flexing beneath me as I start to slowly stand. My eyes peruse his form, which is almost completely hidden in shadow, barely visible by the pale glow of the night sky. But as my gaze travels down his body and comes to rest on his foot, all my resentment suddenly drains away.

There it is, the only part of him completely illuminated by moonlight. It looks so normal, just like any other foot, awkwardly fallen to the side in his sleep with pale toes peeking out of the straps of his sandals. It…it's human!

The knife in my hand suddenly seems to burn into my skin. I toss it to the side, dropping back onto my but with a hard thump. The breath that I must've been holding suddenly wheezes heavily in and out of my lungs. What was I about to just do? Did I almost kill a defenseless person who, at the very least, used to be a teammate of mine?

I allow my knees to drop to the side, rolling on top of them to crawl a few feet away. The uneasy feeling in my stomach suddenly hardens and forces its way up through my throat. After spewing my almost empty guts into the dirt, I swallow painfully, wincing at the remaining taste of bile in my mouth as the acidic burn in my throat sharpens. I drag my cupped hand mindlessly through the dirt, covering up the remnants of my last meal. My stomach churns angrily as the scent of it hits my nostrils, but then quickly quiets, relaxing as it settles into its new found emptiness.

Turning away from the mess, I crawl back towards the tree where I was sitting a few moments before, vaguely noticing the grits of sand digging into the softer skin on my knees and palms. Reaching my pack, I tip it over. The bedroll on top rolls out onto the ground and halfway open. Numbly, I crawl inside, huddling into myself to ward off an inner chill despite the heavy heat of the night air.

Is that what Sasuke's darkness feels like? Is his whole world consumed by that shadow I just felt? With a shudder, I close my eyes, letting my thoughts trickle away as sleep consumes me fully.

**カ****ツ**

Glancing distastefully down at the grey-ish glob of rice wrapped in seaweed sitting in my lap, I make a face and quickly fold the paper wrappings back over it. I'm not really that hungry, even though I lost everything in my stomach last night. I'm still a little queasy and just don't think I can take another rice ball right now. With a sigh, I stuff the food back in my pack, knowing without even looking that there's barely anything else left.

Letting my hands fall loosely in my lap, I lean back against the tree behind me and turn my face up to the sky, partially visible through the forest canopy. The early sun lights the clear, endless, blue streaked with just a few light clouds. I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth of the morning on my skin, letting it melt away the horror of last night.

Despite my rather unchanged circumstances, I woke up with a light, clear feeling inside of me. I'm not happy, per say, but I'm sad for the right reasons, which takes a heavy burden off my conscience. I'm sad that I've left home and won't get to see my friends again. I'm sad that my _best_ friend isn't here right now, but I have faith that he'll return to me. And I'm especially sad for…

Opening my eyes, I watch Sasuke's hunched form as I remember the feeling of total and utter darkness. To be completely consumed by that all the time…how could you even survive? I swallow painfully. Maybe that's why Naruto is able to forgive Sasuke so much easier than me. I've never truly understood. I thought I did, but both of them have experienced hatred at its deepest, darkest levels. Naruto knows its sorrows as well as the joy of overcoming it and wants to share that with his friend. Me? I'm loyal and caring as long as you don't shatter this fragile little bubble that is my world. It's been destroyed many times but not by Sasuke, up until now. He's hurt me, yes, but now, I've given up everything for him. Apparently I'm not as generous as I thought. I wasn't willing to give him Naruto. I'm still not but I can't hate him anymore. Forgiveness is the only thing that will heal me as well as him. I think Naruto's been trying to tell me that all along.

I glance over at my pack. I'm not hungry, but Sasuke probably is. He hasn't had solid food for days. I've kept him hydrated and made sure he had some nutrients, but his body is going to need more to recover.

Reaching into my pack, I feel around for the mushy wad of paper wrapping and hard metallic bottle. Rice ball and canteen in hand, I push myself to my feet and walk slowly over to Sasuke who's propped up against the tree once again. He's sleeping naturally once again. I haven't given him anymore sedatives since yesterday. I smile gently at him, practicing my compassionate feelings for when he's awake. It's so easy right now. He looks so innocent and vulnerable, his expression relaxed, eyes closed.

Kneeling carefully down beside him, I peer around the tree to make sure that the chains are secure, not wanting to repeat my mistake from yesterday. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, strengthening my resolve. I can do this. I've been forgiving Sasuke for years _through_ Naruto. Now, it's my turn to do it on my own. I failed miserably yesterday, but life is full of second chances.

"Sasuke?" Opening my eyes, I say his name softly. "I have some food if you're hungry." He shifts slightly, but other than that there's no response. "Oi, Sasuke." I jab him lightly with the edge of the canteen. "Come on, wake up. You need to eat something." His eyelids flutter barely open. "Sasuke?"

As his head falls to the side, his eyes spring open and he quickly jerks it back up again. He turns to look at me, eyes glazed over as he studies me.

His gaze unnerves me, but I swallow quickly and force my face into a smile as I shove the food towards him, creating a very flimsy barrier between us. "Here, you need to eat."

His eyes travel down towards my outstretched arms, narrowing unfocused eyes at the pitiful gifts in my hands. One chain clinks against another as his hands twitch slightly before lifting to take the small meal. Trembling fingers wrapped around the items, he lets them drop back to his lap. I watch him uncertainly as he stares blankly at them for a moment, before finally moving to flip the cap off my canteen.

Still shaking, he lifts the container to pour water down his throat, much of it spilling out of his mouth to wash down his chin. He lowers the canteen again and looks at me, not bothering to wipe his face. "Is it poison?" he growls.

I widen my eyes, surprised for a moment, before shaking my head. "Of course not!"

He smirks, "So then you plan to kill me later."

Fists on my hips, I lean in towards him, "Well of all the nerve! Here I am offering you food and you accuse me of – " I pause suddenly, dropping my arms to my sides as I remember last night. I guess he has every right to think I might kill him. Shaking the memory off as best I can, I pick my hands up out of the dirt and brush them off before placing them gently in my lap. With a slight bow of my head, I murmur an apology. "I'm sorry. I should apologize for yesterday. It won't happen again."

Lifting my eyes to gage his reaction, I watch a sneer spread over his initially shocked face. "Pitiful."

I smile softly. He always calls Naruto is pitiful.

Just when I'm opening my mouth to say more, I clamp it shut again when the foliage rustles loudly behind me. I automatically pool chakra into my fists, whirling around to scan the dense forest. "Who's there?" Standing to face my attacker, I plant myself firmly between them and Sasuke.

* * *

_Hey guys! So sorry this chapter took so long _again_, but I've been crazy busy. The next one will be out soon so keep your eyes open and it will have more action. So sorry if you're bored! Thank you to all of you who are sticking with it and please, please, please review! Suggestions and positive or negative feedback are all appreciated. I promise that it makes me write faster! God bless you all! _


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